Horizon North, a division of Dexterra Group, which provides infrastructure services in Canada for energy and forestry services, reportedly locked out minimum wage camp workers on Tuesday, leaving them Stranded in Fort St. John, British Columbia. 

Nine workers delegated management at Horizon North’s Kobes Creek Lodge, asking for a fair contract. Before they could finish speaking, management informed them they were being locked out of work and had thirty minutes to gather their things, Unite Here Local 40, British Columbia’s Union for Hotel and Hospitality Workers said in a statement.

“All we’re asking for is a living wage and they kick us out and leave us on the side of the road like garbage,” Miranda Nedd, First Cook at Kobes Creek Lodge said in the statement. “We’re not disposable and we’re going to fight until we win. We are some of the lowest paid workers in BC’s resource camps. We deserve fair pay and respect.” 

The 31 culinary, housekeeping and janitorial workers have been in bargaining since December last year and are demanding better wages, travel pay, safe workloads, and improved benefits. 

 Workers joined UNITE HERE Local 40 last year in September over concerns about wages and working conditions. 

They voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in February of this year and served a strike-notice on Friday.  

“We have been patient and committed throughout the bargaining process,” Nedd said. Monday evening’s delegation was a brief work stoppage to show the workers’ unity in demanding a fair contract. Kobes Creek workers ask for support from the BC camps community while they fight to return to work.”