Year: 2007
Location: Edmonton
Profile: Louis Yakimyshyn grew up on a farm near Andrew, Alberta. In 1959, his employment as an apprentice carpenter became unstable during a recession. He began a 39-year career at Celanese. He had a variety of jobs in several departments. The job that lasted longest involved distilling chemicals in the petrochemical department. Dealing with chemicals caused him to develop difficulty with breathing at one point. Unused products were dumped into a settling pond. Yakimyshyn says Celanese resisted worker and environmental protection, acting only when union pressure or legislation forced their hand, for example, on protection of hearing. He was able to get skilled work positions after returning to school and becoming a steam engineer and then a journeyman electrician.
Yakimyshyn was active in the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union (now Unifor) for 15 years. He was president of the OCAW local in 1974 when Celanese workers struck for 6 weeks. The strike won the workers a severance pay clause. Shortly afterwards the company shut down the vapour phase for petrochemicals, dismissing many workers. Yakimyshyn notes that management of the Celanese plant was poor owing to managers being brought in from the US and promotions being restricted to Masons who golfed.
Keywords: American managers; Celanese strike, 1974;Chemical distillation; Electrician; Environmental damage; Environmental legislation; Health and safety legislation; Masons; Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union; Steam engineer.
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See also: Celanese Edmonton: Workers’ Stories; Occupational Health and Safety; Unifor