Protest over Fairview Phase Two contract work shifts to Port offices at Atlin Terminal

A small protest took place across
from the Port offices at Atlin
Terminal on Wednesday afternoon

A group that is unhappy with the results of a recent contract award for work on the Fairview Terminal expansion project shifted their protest site to the front doors of the Prince Rupert Port Authority on Wednesday afternoon.

A small group of North Coast workers set up across the street from the Port offices, seeking the support of those passing by the tourist area on a sunny Prince Rupert afternoon.

It was a change of location for the protesters, who had previously set up their information line back in April at the  entry to the Port facility on Park Avenue.

The dispute is focused on the current work of clearing brush and debris for the expansion of the Container terminal to the east of the site, with the local group holding to their position that they had been promised the one year contract related to the work.

In the end, the project for brush clearing and associated work was awarded to Bear Creek Contracting which is working with the Port's contractor on the project Fraser Pile/Bel Contracting.

At the time of the original dispute over that contract, the Port noted some of the terms of an agreement with the Coast Tsimshian First Nations signed in 2011, which established the process for preferred contracting opportunities.

From that agreement, First Nations joint venture contractors are required to provide for a cost competitive bid on projects that they have an interest towards.  In the case of the current dispute, the Port has stated in the past that the bid received by the First Nations group in question was not deemed to be a competitive one.

In an update related to the ongoing work on the Phase Two development FRPD-Bel noted that up to 100 workers will be on site during August, with resumes for employment with the project being accepted through an email address from the website.

Some previous background on the dispute can be found below:

June 18 -- Protest over Fairview hiring (video)
June 18 -- First Nations workers protest Fairview Terminal expansion contracts going to out-of-town firms
April 17 -- First Nations contractors protest the hiring of out of town workers for Fairview expansion
April 16 -- Fairview Hiring Protest over Brush clearing contract (video)

More items related to operations at Fairview Terminal can be found here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review