equipment operator

yard worker

tire technician

welder

heavy equipment mechanic

North American Construction Group

As a heavy equipment operator for NACG since May 2023, I have already seen enough to move on. Most of the workforce here have less than 2 years with the company. They don't do anything to try to retain good employees. There is a very high turnaround and the reason is that there is a lot of unfair practices from management towards certain employees that makes you feel like you are disposable. If you file a grievance with the union, you will be blacklisted and you end up with a target on your back, they will be looking for reasons to fire you so it raises a culture of "do as you're told and keep your mouth shut". There is a lot of restructuring lately at Fort Hills, so when changes happen the workers are the last to know, and it often happen without notice. Management is condescending, rude and impatient when you ask questions or when you try to make your concerns heard. On a typical work day, you can be sent back to camp with NO PAY if the weather is unfavorable or if they don't have enough equipment to run. But yet, they keep hiring people. Their fleet is falling apart without enough competent mechanics and sufficient maintenance to keep it running safely. Equipment can be down and they'll ask you to run it anyways (ie. no AC), putting your own safety at stake, then blame you if something happens. If you refuse to run it, you get penalized by getting the worse of the worse next time around. If you're new to the union, don't expect to receive your benefit package for at least 5 month from your start date. IUOE 955 is a joke, they're not on the employee's side. They're only there to collect their dues and NACG is one of their biggest contributors so anyone who tries to disrupt the status quo gets fired pretty quickly. It's a shame that people put up with this stuff with an attitude of "it is what it is" 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Most people will help, team work is practiced by most employees and subordinates. Safety is priority. Positivity is strong.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Not knowing who you can trust. Most are trustworthy but not all.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Mostly good environment to work in, some experienced employees have to train new comers on machineries, some would prefer not to and are doing it against there will, makes it difficult for the new comers to learn. Some people can train and some can’t, they’re just not cut for that work, doesn’t make them bad, they’re really good operators, not really good trainers. The selection should be taking into consideration.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I love operating machineries, I like the safety meetings too, it’s good practice for knowledge of risks and making safety procedures a priority. I would go back anytime. One morning, I went to work, couldn’t focus because of a bad family issue, should’ve stayed home but it was only my second week operating the haul truck for NACG. Didn’t want to look bad by not working my day. Made a life threatening mistake (near miss), then a second one. Lost my job. Should’ve stayed home all right. But it was too late, negligence on my part. Still regret it, can’t blame NAGC, they want safety a priority.

NACG was a great company to work for. From managers, directors to colleagues, everyone is supportive and very kind. During my time there, I appreciated the culture at work. Sitting for a long time can be draining at most jobs but time flies when you're working with good, funny and supportive team members. Management is super supportive, organized, and accommodative. During the tough times when the volume of work increased management seemed to always find a way to make it manageable, wether it was helping out or making a good plan, but always making sure the load was never too heavy one person. Being at work made me want to actually do more for the company and excel, I think thats a pretty rare quality to find in most jobs but the people are fantastic here. The most enjoyable parts of work were chatting with colleagues, satisfaction of getting results with the team, team lunches and half day Fridays. Also, the break we got during Christmas was AWESOME. The hardest part of working here was probably the drive to Acheson, I lived like 30-40 minutes away so that was tough for me but yeah amazing place to work overall HIGHLY recommend. 

Changes from site to site. Syncrude basemine was excellent. Suncor was an absolute disaster. Worst foreman/trainer/management in Alberta. They treat anyone that doesn’t brown nose like trash and try to drive them out. Seen many good operators forced out because of personal issues. They promote the worst operators to foreman, and the worst foreman to management. The place is broken. The training department doesn’t know the first thing about equipment and breeds bad operators. Lots of incidents, many of which are repeat offences because they refuse to change their ways. Many many days sitting at home due to safety shut downs. The superintendents have little to no construction or mining experience and are hired solely on who they know. The work culture is disgusting, the safety culture is horrible and overall this company should not be getting contracts, and if it were for the sheer size of their fleet and assets; they wouldn’t. 

I arrive at work at 8:00 A.M. and check updates on emails. Then I proceed by answering and replying to them all. My work load includes monitoring the location, division and movement of our entire light vehicle fleet. This is on a large spreadsheet and movement happens on a daily basis. As well I order, monitor and do the cancellations of all fuel cards issued through Transportaction. I also update information for commercial drivers and all hired employees, for example driver's license, abstract consent forms, and pulling of abstracts. There are time sensitive reports to do monthly. I also order and distribute upon request all log books for the light and commercial vehicles. As well there is daily filing and sorting of all paper correspondence . I have been with the company 18 months and enjoy the people and the atmosphere. It is a heavy work load. That being said I am a hard worker.

My typical day would be to drive for an hour before work started. Talk to the night shift Supervisor and go over there break downs. Proceed with a Tool box/Safety meeting with the workers and assign the repairs. During the day spot Safety inspections were done on each individual. Material and parts were ordered or found for the jobs to continue. 
       The Company/Management was great for receiving any training that may be needed to execute your Job. My co-workers were fantastic to work with. There was lots of knowledge around and the people helped one another. The hardest part of the job would be the hours that was spent during the day. We worked 12 hours and traveled 2 hours per day. Hour schedule  was 14 days working and 14 days off so there was good quality of life there. So time off was the best part of the job.

The management gives preferential treatment to friends and old teamates 

Job security felt like there is none

Safety officer makes u feel like you are in good hands. Next thing you know he snitched you for speaking about the problems.

HR person reassures you about job security, next thing you know HR guy got fired....LMAO 

When they want to get rid of you, they will test you with stuff they never trained you with and make you look stupid, then they will harass you for being stupid and hope they u will quit. If all don't work then they will fire you with no shame and allege that you are not a fit. 

The senior mamangement are like Neanderthals, they have zero social skills, they want robots not employees, they want u to make them money but don't want to show you how.

Foreman Duties as well General Foreman duties. Track time materials and equipment hours. Work directly with Esso contract coordinators. Crew line ups. conduct JSA reviews. Also prepare JSA's . conduct morning PSI as well as discuss safety topics with crew. Insure job set up is safe for all employees. Monitor job progress and document daily. My job can change with little notice. We work in the mine at Kearl, as Mine Support. Also tailings reclamation . Ditching projects, soils reclamation, We have large equipment, haul trucks, dozers, excavators, graders,and wheel loaders. I over see deferent types of work areas in and out of the mine. I always try to be a positive leader, my own experience as an operator, helps me under stand issues that employees and co-workers deal with preforming there tasks.

On a daily basis you spend the entire day in your machine doing the same repetitive task.  I’ve learned how to cope with boredom, repetitive tasks and how to stay focus for long hours day after day. Overall the management is good. They are very approachable and easy to talk to, they do pay attention to concerns that are brought up. They culture is good also, everyone is treated the same, with respect and dignity but there isn’t any time for interactions with co-workers  and production is always at the top of the priority list. The hardest part of the job is not being recognized for working hard or having any new opportunities for advancement. If you’re good at doing a specific job that’s where you stay. To finish off the best part of the day like many job is finishing up  and finally getting to go home. 

Camp life, I drive around and deliver water to job sites, refuel trucks for management and generators. helped build mse wall that was just completed. drove loader when needed. Deliver and pick up workers from and to airport when required. Pick up parts in town when required. completed many task when asked or assigned. whenever anything is needed by supervisors its completed by end of shift.
co-workers are easy to get along with, we all work together to complete the job. Hardest part of job is probably being away from my family, but realize this is where the better jobs are located.. I enjoy the challenges I face everyday in all aspects of the job. there is always something to do, or waiting to be done. I like being busy and working safe for myself and my co-workers.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Equipment operator 4 salaries reported	$49.55 per hour
Yard worker 1 salary reported	$43.90 per hour
Tire technician 13 salaries reported	$51.66 per hour
Welder 10 salaries reported	$55.23 per hour
Heavy equipment mechanic 2 salaries reported	$63.06 per hour

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