Kiewit locking up Marystown site, worrying hundreds of workers and local MHAs

A spokesperson for KiewitOffshore Services said on Friday thatopportunities for work at the Cow Head facility in the short-term future have 'diminished significantly'.

On Thursday the local union president told CBC Newsthere ishope for a possible project with Statoil in 2019 but Kiewit said it does not have any future work lined up in Marystown.

"Our current operations will conclude at the end of the month," Kiewit said in an email to CBC News

"We will continue to look for opportunities to bring work to the facility."

The statement from the company said the site hasbeen an important part of itsoperationssince 2002.

Worried about impact

Union officials and two Liberal MHAs are worried about the impact of the shutdown on people in the area.

• Slim pickings for laid-offKiewitworkers inMarystown
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"We have 700-plus union members," said Rick Farrell, president ofUniforLocal 20.

"Every trade imaginable. A work force thatgoes fromLamalinedown as far asTerrenceville. So all these communities are affected."

MHA reaction

In a press release Friday, the MHA for Placentia West-Bellevue, Mark Browne, said he reached out toKiewitofficials to holda meeting to discuss what the future holds.

"I am concerned," he said."But wish to reassure residents that I am working alongside my colleagues and in conjunction with UNIFOR MWF Local 20 to determine Kiewit's future plans."

Browne's colleagueCarol Anne Haley, MHA for BurinGrand Bank, expressed similar concerns, adding thatthe shipyard has played an important role as anemployer onthe BurinPeninsula.

"Many constituents within my district have a long history of employment at the facility," she said.

"I am prepared to work with my colleagues to ensure a rejuvenated shipyard becomes a reality."

Harsh reality

Workers finished up the last major project, building theHebrondrilling support module, in December2015.

The news of the Cow Head closure doesn't come as a totalshock, but it's still a harsh reality to accept for thehundreds of families who have grownused to steady payfrom a jobclose to home.

The union said it will hold a meeting in the near future to try andfigure out where to go from here.