Letter to the Membership
There has been a lot of conversations regarding autonomy at HVC in recent weeks. We have seen a persistent push from the industry to put more technology into our work place, some of it helps us do our jobs better, some of it informs us of things we could never see ourselves, and most recently it starts to remove work from us all together. I recently had the chance to attend a conference in Santiago, Chile, regarding automation in mining. It was very well represented by international guests, politicians, economists, CEO’s of mining companies and Union leaders. They shared their stories, their achievements, their pain and their knowledge. Over the two days, I learnt more about Automation than I could have ever imagined. I came back with a new focus on what is important to our local Union, our communities and our country. The basis of the conference was Automation and the industrial revolution 4.0. In the past, automation and technology helped us achieve better work practices and make workers more valuable. For the first time in human history, computers (AI) are being designed to replace us and are devaluing workers. Big data, data analytics, machine learning and automation can, will and already has made drastic changes to our lives. Self-driving cars, automated tellers, automated banking, online shopping with AI controlled warehouses, and it’s only the start of a terrifying trend. On the far right wing, CEO’s told us that “automation was good for us”. It was going to increase production, efficiency and safety. One CEO pointed out that an automated drill did the inside of a blast pattern, but “on the outside pattern, near the pit edge, we will get humans to drill, since we don’t want to risk the $250 million dollar drill”. Although it’s interesting technology, it does not eliminate a human being put at risk to work on the machines at high elevation, or in a remote mine. Good for us, right? What they will achieve is record profits, eliminating human wages and “inconsistencies (human error)”, all while removing that same income from the global economy. In the middle, politicians and economists talked about the real facts. 40-50% of the jobs as we see them today, both in Chile and in Canada, will not exist as we see them in ten years. In Santiago, there are 19 million people in the city alone, many of them working multiple low paying jobs to make ends meet. In Canada, studies have indicated that jobs like trucking, tellers, front end staff and finical institutions are some of the highest risk, with nearly two million trucking jobs in the current marker. As those jobs are eliminated by automation, so are the wages these employees earned, the taxes they paid and the money they spent to support the economy. Who will make up for the loss? The cost is going to be burdened by the remaining tax payers. As local governments lose their tax income and local businesses suffer a loss in revenue they will have to reduce employment levels as well, it’s easy to see the snowball building. At HVC, 200 haul truck driver jobs is equivalent to 20 million in lost revenue to local economies each year. As one person stated, robots do not pay taxes. The politicians pleaded with the conference, stating that if they did not start to think about the impact on their communities, the implications would be felt farther than they ever imagined. On the left, Union leaders from some of the biggest mines in Chile spoke about the effect of employee loss on the communities and the local union. Some spoke about layoffs, most spoke about retraining for those who could, or who were able to be retrained. Companies have to play their cards close to their chest regarding their social licence and their support to operate in the local community, all at the same time trying to figure out ways to reduce their bottom line and increase profits. They spoke openly about building language to protect the workers they still have, and ensuring that there is meaningful work for those who are left in the future. But they also spoke about the impact this has had on the overall global economy. I came back with a new found vigor to look at the problem as a whole. We have already seen the impact on moral, as haul truck drivers and other employees consistently ask “am I going to have a job in the future?” We have seen the absurd amount of money Teck has thrown at automation over the last year and the lack of progressive action taken to minimize its negative impact. The leaders have stated when asked, they have no idea how much they’ve spent. (They should know down to the penny). I spoke to Australian Union leaders who have seen the direct impact of automation losing 200 jobs in the Pilbara, when driverless trains left employees sitting in booths on the side of the road watching their trains roll by. Their towns are dying, as people leave for new employment, and the trains are being run 1200km away, from a remote control room in Perth. We have to stop playing the “it’s going to be ok” game, because if we do not put serious rules and precautions in place, the work that is being created will continually shift away from the workforce. So, I’ve reached out. It’s not just us that are in this fight. The Vancouver Long Shore workers had a 3 hour strike to prevent a 9000 member layoff if the Company was allowed to implement AI in the loading docks. Other Teck operations have already seen paper fly across desks as they look to implement AHS at other sites. Autonomy doesn’t stop at Haul Trucks. Teck and others have indicated intent to automate drilling, hauling, dozing, shoveling, analytical work, data entry, technician work and operations processes. There is even technology and big data analytics being developed to replace management positions. If the employers aren’t going to reach out and consult with their stakeholders and those who may be impacted by this transition, then someone has to. This isn’t a fight we can stand by and wait for, we have to take the lead and get ahead of it. We HAVE taken a stand. The Local Union is forcing Teck to the table to negotiate language that protects the employees that we currently have, as well as future employment at our operation. We want guarantees that new work that is being created due to automation is going to be ours, not supervisors or contractors. We want guarantees that those displaced will not be devalued and will be upskilled, retrained and invested into. We have requested language that ensures employees who want to be retrained into these new, high tech jobs will be allowed to do so. We want an entire list of the jobs that are being created, not just the ones that are being lost. We want to have serious discussions around protection, not just absorption. We are not signing off on any new automation or other language rules or variances until we get that protection in place. If the company wants language to assist in ensuring the success of their investments in technology, we want language to ensure the investment in, and success of their employees. We know that people are terrified of what their future looks like. We want to be able to ensure people with more than just words that they have something to look forward too, so they can tell their spouses and children, friends and families that they are moving up, not down. We want to see a long term success of the mine, but not at the cost of employees, communities, businesses and the economy. We are all stakeholders in this business and need to be treated as such. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, and we are committed to ensuring that we protect you and your employment. On a final note, please take a look at the language in the CBA regarding layoff. Page 226, which states the Company has to employee us BEFORE contractors if we have the skills to do so. Put plainly, we might not have brick layers, but we would be mixing the mortar and passing the bricks. That language has protected layoffs for years! If you have any questions, please do hesitate to call, text, email or otherwise contact the hall or myself. In solidarity, Kyle Wolff President, United Steelworkers Local 7619 Proudly Representing Over 1000 Unionized Employees at Teck Highland Valley Copper Partnership |
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August 2021
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