An Elk Point man has caught the attention of the country with a protest against his former employer. Andrew Bykowsky was formerly a truck driver for Canadian Natural Resources Limited. He says in 2014 operators like himself took a thirty percent cut in compensation.
“Since then, the cost of everything has increased. Fuel has drastically increased since 2014. We were paying about 30 cents a litre then.”
Bykowsky says many drivers like himself have yet to see a return to normal compensation. With the fear of going bankrupt while running a truck, He decided to take action.
“It’s not about wanting more money. We do respect CNRL for providing us with a standard of living for our families. The problem is that the standard of living has disappeared.”
Last Wednesday, Bykowsky lead a convoy of trucks said to number around 50 to the CNRL office in Lloydminster in a protest attended by about 100 people. The offices were closed ahead of time and the parking lot barricaded.
In an email from CNRL, the company says it is having discussions with contracted trucking firms.
“We have ongoing meetings with our truck servicing firms and we encourage independent contractors to work with their employers to bring forward their concerns to us. We are committed to working together with our truck servicing firms to work through these concerns.”
The company also states the current economic challenges including lack of pipeline transportation as a cause for concern when it comes to moving products.
Bykowsky has since been fired as a CNRL employee. The reason given was filming a Facebook video while in the cab of a truck. He hopes that a protest will develop at the oil giants main office in Calgary.
“Just because I got let go, this isn’t the end of this. We want to see everybody get back what they deserve.”