Owners of the Come By Chance refinery have been asking the government of Newfoundland and Labrador about the possibility of financial help to keep the facility in hot idle mode so it could be more easily restarted, the refinery union says.
Glen Nolan, president of the United Steel Workers Local 9316 union, said that in recent conference calls officials of the province’s energy department indicated Silverpeak had floated that idea.
In response to questions from SaltWire, Minister Andrew Parsons would only offer this brief statement.
“At this time, Silverpeak continues to work on its options,” Parsons responded via e-mail. “We have been talking with them regularly and we will support them as we can. Although it is not appropriate for us to discuss publicly at this time, we are certainly willing to explore potential options to help facilitate a positive outcome. The refinery and its employees are very important to our province.”
A spokesperson for National, a St. John's-based public relations company that handles media inquiries for Silverpeak, told SaltWire "the company will not be providing comment on internal, confidential matters at this time."
Getting set for sale
Hot idling means steam and heat would continue to flow through the pipes, combines and catalysts at the facility, to prevent moisture and freezing that could cause corrosion and breakage in the piping system.
Nolan said if Silverpeak wants to maintain the facility in working order on the prospects of an eventual sale, it would make sense to keep the machinery idling as opposed to shutting it down completely.
“It’s not good for any refinery to have a cold refinery. It doesn’t make sense. If you’re trying to sell an asset … you don’t want breakage,” he said, adding that the catalysts alone cost millions of dollars to replace.
Nolan said the union will continue to lobby for information about the maintenance of the refinery during the shutdown.
Meetings are held regularly with the province’s energy department, said Nolan, and he’s hoping the answers will come very soon.
The union local president added that if the province does agree to help that the money is repaid on the eventual sale of the refinery.
Nolan says it is challenging providing updates to union members.
“The information is changing practically every day,” he said.
Short term pain
On Wednesday union leaders held a series of meetings with the membership in Arnolds’s Cove, breaking the workers up into smaller groups in light of COVID-19 rules.
It was the first formal meetings between the union and its members and there were many questions.
Nolan said he could only confirm that three companies are now expressing interest in the facility, and one company, Origin International, has been named.
Nolan said the other two bidders haven’t been identified.
“Right now Origin is doing their due diligence, going through Silverpeak’s financials on the refinery,” Nolan said.
He added he’s also been told one of the other companies is also in the due diligence stage, and that government is helping with the search for other potential buyers.
Two weeks ago, it was first reported that the refinery would be shutting down, full-stop. Nolan said there’s a little more hope now.
The immediate future for the unemployed refinery workers, however, is less bright.
The 150-175 workers, full time and temporary staff, who were laid off in April depended on the Canada Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB) program until early October.
Now, with CERB ended, they will have to file for regular Employment Insurance benefits.
That should give them income until mid-2021, albeit less than when they were working.
If the refinery does not re-start by next year then they’ll have to start looking for work elsewhere.
Currently, 67 members of the United Steelworkers local are still employed at the refinery, according to Nolan.
And if the company decides to do a complete shutdown, rather than a hot idle, some of those people will likely be out of work as well.
One of the key questions by workers at Wednesday’s meetings was about the pension plan.
Nolan said he’s been told it’s in good shape.
“I don’t think the workers have anything to worry about there,” he said, noting the union has been assured verbally that the plan is healthy but they want to see something in writing before they share any more information with their members.
“We’re just waiting on the documentation to show us what it is,” he said. That information will be relayed to workers once the union has the details in writing.
He added if the refinery is restarted within the next year or so, some of the laid-off workers should be able to get their jobs back.
That’s because the site is guaranteed as a union site, and the collective agreement includes recall rights for members.
However, there is a specific time frame governing that recall.
Nolan said the time frame is 24 to 36 months, depending on a worker’s seniority, and for most of them the clock started ticking in April, the day they were laid off.
If they are not hired back within 36 months of their termination date, their recall rights end.
Unfortunately, their seniority with the local USW does not give them seniority on union lists elsewhere.
This is an in-house union, Nolan explained, meaning the seniority list is only applicable to the refinery site.
“It’s not like the Building Trades Union where you get to pick and choose work from all over Canada,” said Nolan.
The highest hope, said Nolan, is for a new buyer and a re-start of operations before 2022.
The union local will continue to communicate regularly with government and company officials, said Nolan, and keep members informed on any major developments.
