According to Scott Beaver, Local 2215 union president, 78 safety orders are hanging in the air for the past two years following the transfer of jurisdiction of their facility from the provincial government to the federal Labor Department.
The technical workers walked off their jobs after they discovered asbestos was being removed from one of the hangars where they work. "It's more or less the wild west out here when it comes to health and safety... We've had people exposed to radiation levels above safe limits. We've had people exposed to polyurethane paint, air quality issues, asbestos issues," Beaver told the Canadian Press.
IMP Aerospace has existing contracts with the Canadian military to repair and service its Sea King helicopters and long-range Aurora patrol craft. It also has contracts with the U.S. and Norway military to service their military planes.
The 38-year old firm is known for being a leader in military aircraft engineering, depot level maintenance and related specialized services. Its Aerospace Division specializes in Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin and Agusta Westland aircraft.
Ron Campbell, IMP's senior director of administration, acknowledged that while the job walk off disrupted operations of the company, not all employees joined the industrial action. Campbell denied Beaver's accusation the company failed to address the workers' health and safety concerns.
"We have an extensive number of standard plant procedures for dealing with those environments and a very active joint occupational health and safety committee... From our perspective the checks and balances in the system are working quite well," Campbell told the Canadian Press.
