Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Ken Hoste, assistant business manager of IBEW Local 2067, with Boundary Dam Power Station over his shoulder. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
ESTEVAN – It was an emotional day for Ken Hoste when the Government of Saskatchewan told SaskPower workers that it intended to rebuild its coal-fired power generation fleet, instead of shutting it down in four years, six months and 12 days.
The phone of Assistant Business Manager for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2067 rang off the hook, with over 100 calls and texts “from extremely happy members” on June 18. That morning, Minister of Crown Investments Corporation and SaskPower Jeremy Harrison sent a letter to all SaskPower workers, telling them of the decision that had been years in the making. You can read about it in depth here, and listen to the minister in a podcast here.
One call, in particular, stood out for Hoste. “I’ve had one guy who was on the edge of quitting, moving west,” he said.
And now? “I’m going to stay,” the worker told Hoste.
“That’s the one that stands out, That’s the one that makes me the happiest. I want people to stay in these communities. I’ve got people part-way through their apprenticeships that didn’t necessarily know where they were going to go when those apprenticeships are done and coal is winding down, and now they know they can stay here.
“This is a whole another generation of people that are going to make be able to make a living and in this industry. I love this industry. I’ve been in it a long time, and you know, it makes me so happy that a whole another generation, is going to be able to get through on coal. It’s a wonderful industry to work in. I’ve made some of the best friends I’ve ever had in it. And here we are. And, sorry, I’m a little overwhelmed today. This has been a long haul, and a huge weight has been lifted off all of our shoulders today.”
Hoste spoke to Pipeline Online on June 18, hours after the announcement, and again on June 20. You can read the union’s letter of support, written by business manager Tyler Holmen here.
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Power workers and miners
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2067 represents the SaskPower workers at the Poplar River, Shand and Boundary Dam Power Stations. As
SaskPower once owned and operated the mine at Coronach, the miners at Coronach are also represented by IBEW. (Miners at Estevan are represented by the United Mine Workers of America Local 7606)
IBEW members across the three power stations total 400 permanent employees, 70 temporary, and a further approximately 30 working ongoing overhaul, totalling approximately 500. There are 135 in-scope members at the Westmoreland Polar River Mine. That does not count out-of-scope workers like management.
Best sleep in years
“I had a conversation with a member, and he told me he had the best sleep in years. That was a highlight for me,” said Hoste.
“There’s lots of relief.”
“This is amazing for our members. We’ve been through some dark days, basically since they since this road map to coal transition had been announced, what was it? Six years ago. There’s been some dark times. There’s been a lot of people who questioned whether they should stick around here to be the one that shut the lights out in the plants.”
Pipeline Online had heard over the years from SaskPower workers whose managers would on occasion ask when they were leaving. Hoste believes that, saying “Management had chosen a clear direction. I think it was, once the focus kind of went towards gas and renewables, the members the plants and mines felt that, for a lack of a better description, it was almost like when your kids don’t care about their old toys, because they have new toys to play with.”
Hoste noted the Paris Accord, which Canada’s brand-new Justin Trudeau-led government signed in December, 2015, but which the Conservatives had laid the groundwork for, was a key factor. He noted if anyone in Ottawa wanted to get invited to the right parties, or was climbing any sort of ladder, you had to get onboard with the coal transition.
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Morale suffered for years
Morale has been on a downward trend for a long, long time among the coal workers. Hoste said, “Every time, every announcement was a knee-jerk reaction. And every time they’d make one of these negative announcements, real estate tanks a little bit more. Everybody’s faith the coal industry would pull through would tank a little bit more. And it just trended down. These announcements not only interfered with our professional futures, they also negatively affected our personal investments, many people have real estate as part of their retirement portfolios.”
Coal workers have endured dark and gloomy days until now. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
One person Pipeline Online spoke to on June 19 said a house in Estevan he said was valued at $400,000 during the boom years he sold for $250,000 in 2020. That person was not a coal worker, but an oil and gas worker. But the impact is the same. The downturn in oil and gas, combined with the looming demise of the coal industry, has been brutal on real estate values in Estevan. And a lot of individual’s private equity is wrapped up in their homes.
Hoste compared Estevan to Hamilton, Ontario, after the bottom fell out of the steel industry. “You can feel the feeling in the air,” he said. “Or if you look at Detroit, when they lost their auto industry, the feeling is in the air when you’re in those communities. And we were starting to get that here.”
He said, “That weight lifted.”
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Knowing their future
Hoste extended thanks to Premier Scott Moe, Minister Jeremy Harrison, Minister Lori Carr, former Justice Minister Bronwynn Eyre, former MP Robert Kitchen and last but not least, Crown Investments Corp. vice-president Tim Highmoor. In January, when Harrison and Highmoor visited the plants and first made known SaskPower would be looking at rebuilding them, Hoste said, “That was the first light at the end of the tunnel we had heard in a long time. It was the first time, for me, that I felt like the coal workers voices were finally being heard.”
At the time, Harrison spoke directly to workers on the floor and committed to giving workers an answer on coal’s future by July 1, recognizing they had been through a lot of ups and downs. Hoste did note that there was some apprehension, with one plant worker saying, “Forgive us if we don’t get too excited, but we have had of a lot of July 1sts around here.”
Harrison validated that, acknowledging the roller coaster the coal workers have been on since coal transition became the company’s chosen path. “This time you’re going to have it by July 1.” And Hoste noted the announcement was made June 18, 12 days early.
“A lot of people thought, okay, in a couple weeks, I’m going to know my future. Well, they walked into work this morning, finding out what their future is. And I don’t think it could be a better day for my members in the coal fleet,” Hoste said.
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Change in government?
The most significant threat to this change in direction could be a future government deciding to reverse course and continue down the path to shut down coal. Asked about that, Hoste said, “Governments do change. And then, if the NDP were to reverse that decision, I guess that’s a bridge we’d have to cross when we get there, my hope would be that any government would put Saskatchewan’s people and energy security first when making decisions.”
“Speaking for myself, I feel this right to my core. I’m a third-generation coal worker. My grandfather worked at the mine. My dad worked at both EGS and Boundary Dam, and I’ve done both. Coal is kind of just what we do. And you know what? That option is there for the next generation, my family now, too, if they want it,” Hoste said.
Ken Hoste, left, and Estevan Mayor Tony Sernick. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Time to throw a party
Hoste said, “The biggest thing is, right now, it’s time to celebrate. I’ve been on the phone with the mayor. I’ve been on the phone with everybody I can get a hold of that’s been a part of this fight, and including you. And you know, I just have so many thanks. It’s overwhelming to know that all our coal fleet members have safe and secure middle class jobs, this is a whole another generation that’s going to be able to work in this industry. It’s just an amazing thing.”
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