It likely wasn’t a surprise to anyone Thursday when Astaldi Canada did not meet payroll at the Muskrat Falls project site which left workers without their pay for work completed since the last pay period.
The total amount owed workers is estimated at about $2 million.
Last Thursday, about 500 workers were ordered by Nalcor Energy to head home from the Labrador site after it was established that Astaldi Canada Inc. could no longer pay its workers.
Astaldi’s parent company filed for creditor protection in Italy at the end of September.
Darin King, executive director of the Trades NL/Resource Development Trades Council (RDTC), on Thursday morning immediately called upon Premier Dwight Ball and Nalcor CEO Stan Marshall to address the situation.
Marshall issued a statement soon after that Nalcor was aware that Astaldi had not met payroll.
“Our immediate priority is to see that workers receive their unpaid wages owed by Astaldi,” the statement read. “We are currently working on a solution to ensure that workers are paid within the coming days for their work completed since last pay period.”
Marshall also said that Nalcor has been closely monitoring the financial situation of Astaldi.
“In addition to Astaldi not paying the salaries of its workers, there are numerous liens filed against the Muskrat Falls Project by Astaldi's sub-contractors, suppliers and the RDTC because Astaldi is not paying its bills,” the statement read. “This has impacted Astaldi’s ability to carry on its work.”
The issue was also raised in the House of Assembly Thursday afternoon by Opposition Leader Ches Crosbie.
“How long will employees have to wait for paycheques, and who will be making the payments?” he asked Ball.
Ball said he had been working on the issue prior to attending the House of Assembly.
“I've already met with the executive director, Trades NL, Darin King. I've had a couple of conversations with him, as well as the CEO, Stan Marshall, of Nalcor,” Ball said. “These wages will be paid.
“It’s important that workers in Newfoundland and Labrador, when they go to work, they would get the paycheque that they so rightfully deserve. Right now Nalcor is working at the ways that, logistically, this could happen, but those workers will get paid.”
Later in the day, King issued another statement saying the RDTC received a commitment that the workers’ wages will be covered by Nalcor.
King said the RDTC will continue working closely with Nalcor over the next few days to ensure that the workers get the money owed.
The Muskrat Falls Corporation and Astaldi Canada Inc. have also gone to Newfoundland Supreme Court over contract arbitration issues in recent days.
The court has ordered the Muskrat Falls Corporation to appoint an arbitrator to a Board of Arbitration which will determine if it has jurisdiction to hear the issues of alleged breached of contract raised by Astaldi.
On Sept. 27, Astaldi Canada filed a notice of arbitration alleging numerous breaches of contract by the Muskrat Falls Corporation. Astaldi appointed an arbitrator to a prospective board of arbitration.
The Muskrat Falls Corp. refused to appoint an arbitrator. Its position was that the arbitration agreement was not available to Astaldi in the circumstances. The Muskrat Falls Corp. then filed its own application asking the court for a declaration that it did not have to appoint an arbitrator and that the arbitration process was not available to Astaldi.
Justice James Adams heard both applications together.
In his decision he stated that: “The arbitration raises issues of mixed fact and law requiring a detailed consideration of the contract and the factual matrix surrounding it. Therefore, the issue of jurisdiction should be referred to the Board of Arbitration for determination once it is established.”
He ordered Muskrat Falls Corp. to appoint an arbitrator to the board within 14 days.
The arbitration board’s first order of business will be to determine if it has jurisdiction to hear the allegations made by Astaldi.
Related stories:
Astaldi did not meet payroll at Muskrat Falls site: trades council
