Suncor will compensate tradespeople stuck in an oilsands work camp during delay

Suncor has agreed to pay missed wages to contractors after complaints that they were asked to show up for work at a newoilsandsmine and then told they won't be fully compensated because of unexpected startup delays.

CBCNews spoke with a worker and senior superintendent at work camp near theFort Hills mine,who said about 1,000 workers were promised two weeks of work at theSuncorfacility, followed by oneweek off.

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But construction on the site was temporarily restricted because it is in final commissioning and start-up stages,Suncorspokesperson Erin Reestold CBCNews.

"As a safety precaution, construction activity on parts of the site has been temporarily restricted during this work as planned," Rees said in an email.

The delay has stretched to a week with no end in sight, and, according toseveral contract workers who reached out toCBCNews, workers had been left sitting idle and being paid about 20 per cent of their normal wage.

"Basicallywe are captive workers," saidone industrial insulator, whose identityCBCNews agreed to withhold.

He said his supervisors informed him onJan. 15 thatthe delay,needed to test pipes and valves,would last a day.

'Everybody is stressed out'

"We [were] told if we leave and go home, it would be considered job abandonment and we would be let go,"said theworker, who earnsabout $40anhour.

Forced to stay in the camp without adequate pay was an unnecessary hardship, he said, adding thatthe patience of workers was wearing thin

"We have truck payments. House payments. Rent. The fear right now is we are not going to make it. Everybody is stressed out. There was even a fight [last night]," the worker said.

'Very disgruntled bunch'

A senior superintendent with one of Suncor'sFort Hills contractorssaid thatabout 1,050 workers were affected. Six days in an oilsandscamp with no work and reduced pay was creatingtense moments, he said on Monday.

"When I come back to camp,I am dealing with a very disgruntled bunch. They are yelling things at me just for the fact that I am working and they are not," the superintendent said.

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On Monday evening, Reesconfirmed to CBCNewsthat Suncorwill compensate workersfor lost wages.

The Fort Hills mine, 90 kilometres north of FortMcMurray, was scheduled to begin producing oil by the end of 2017.It is jointly ownedbySuncor, Total E&P Canada andTeckResources.

Follow David Thurton, CBC'sFort McMurraycorrespondent, onFacebookandTwitter, email him atdavid.thurton@cbc.ca