Estevan鈥� In dealing with the toughest downturn in the oilpatch in 30 years, Bert Baxter Transport of Estevan turned to a strategy it used back in the 1980s, work-sharing.
It鈥檚 a Service Canada program where workers put in reduced hours, but their income is supplemented through Employment Insurance.
Service Canada鈥檚 website describes it as 鈥渁n adjustment program designed to help employers and employees avoid layoffs when there is a temporary reduction in the normal level of business activity that is beyond the control of the employer. The measure provides income support to employees eligible for Employment Insurance benefits who work a temporarily reduced work week while their employer recovers.
鈥淲ork-Sharing is a three-party agreement involving employers, employees and Service Canada. Employees on a Work-Sharing agreement must agree to a reduced schedule of work and to share the available work over a specified period of time.鈥�
鈥淚t hit everybody. We鈥檙e all in the same boat,鈥� said Todd Shirley, who heads up the family-owned and operated business.
鈥淲e reduced hours,鈥� he said, adding they started on the Work-Sharing program five months ago. It took about three weeks to set up this time
As a result, they haven鈥檛 had to do a lot of layoffs.
鈥淲e did a few, but very few,鈥� Shirley said.
Usually they would buy three trucks a year. Not now.
鈥淲e鈥檙e doing zero expenditures,鈥� he noted, adding they鈥檝e parked probably 15 to 20 trucks out of a fleet of 86 and pulled their licence plates.
鈥淭he oilpatch is down everywhere, not just here.鈥�
Drilling activity is down by over half since January, and the companies closest to the drill bit are among those seeing the most impact of the downturn.
鈥淲e do a lot of pipe. Maybe a quarter of our business is tied to drilling. It鈥檚 hit the hardest. In the good times, it was up to 50 per cent tied to drilling.鈥�
Service rig business is also down as hard, he noted.
鈥淭he whole industry鈥檚 dropped a lot,鈥� Shirley said. 鈥淭his is one of the worst (downturns) I鈥檝e seen. I think this is harder than 鈥�86.鈥�
Back then, Bert Baxter Transport, one of the oldest companies in the southeast Saskatchewan oilpatch, did just what they are doing now 鈥� Work-Sharing.
Asked when he thinks things will turn around, Shirley said, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 even give you a guess. When oil prices are back up, things will pick up. She鈥檚 just a waiting game.
鈥淭here are no guarantees in the oilpatch,鈥� he concluded. 聽
