Arbitration Sought to Settle Canadian Offshore Oil Dispute

CEP is seeking binding arbitration for workers at offshore oil producer Hibernia, the ExxonMobil-led energy consortium that has flagrantly dodged a first union contract at the oil platform off the coast of Newfoundland. Some 420 workers voted for CEP representation in October 2001 but the company has used legal appeals and stall tactics to avoid the bargaining table. CEP is already in first contract arbitration at a similar North Atlantic oil platform called Terra Nova operated by Petro-Canada. Some 90 workers there voted for the CEP in April 2003. “Our members at Hibernia and Terra Nova have waited far too long to get Coordinator Joe Gargiso. “We prefer to negotiate terms but employer resistance is forcing us into following the mandatory first contract arbitration procedure.”