Thread regarding Enbridge Inc. layoffs

I had 36 years at Consumers Gas/Enbridge. The employees in my department, the meter shop at vpc were offered a package and bought out in 2013...lack of production. What they did not admit to was that many days while we were doing nothing it was because the supervisor I worked for "forgot" to order parts for meters. Or worse, he'd order the wrong parts. You cannot put a Dresser head on a Romet meter...if all you have in the shop to work on is Romets then the supervisor needs to ensure there were Romet heads in the shop to put on them!. Many a days we were scrambling just to look busy. The sad part is, 3 years after our shut down, this supervisor is still there...with the title "ADVISOR". LOL

Christmas week usually, we would slow production, as meters cannot be sealed in the last 2 weeks of the year. In mid Dec. in 2011, they came to us and insisted there was an urgent need in the field for 2m rotary meters Christmas week. "Need 'em like yesterday" my supervisor said. The repairers worked our asses off to do them, getting 46 of them ready on Dec. 23rd, as most of us booked Christmas week off. When we came back in January, the meters were still on the skid on the floor, unsealed and no where ready to go out. The supervisory staff that promised to get them sealed and sent...didn't.

The problem at Enbridge is there are way too many unqualified people in positions of management. How can you ask your Unionized workers to work hard when many members of management are no where to be found? NEPOTISM AND FAVOURITISM rule at Enbridge and it was frustrating to hear in our annual reviews that production was below normal, then watch your supervisor screw up day after day, and your lack of production was really on him... What a joke!!!

I am so glad to be outta there!!!!!

The comment about less "hard worker" employees is not fair. Many employees work even overtime and not getting paid as the contractors. It is common also to hear that contractors always pretend to word harder and more than employees just to cheat and charge the company 11 hours daily and some others on the weekends.

Enbridge is undeniably the best company I've every worked for. I am incredibly impressed by the values, the people and the leadership. I've never been involved in an organization with so much integrity. Everything I've seen and been involved in consistently reinforces how much they care about their people. We're experiencing one of the worst recession in the energy industry ever and unfortunately difficult decisions are being made by many companies and it's impacting good people. Despite the difficulty, I would be hard pressed to find another company that equals the focus Enbridge places on treating people with dignity and respect. I've worked at other companies. This one is different. Whether I stay or whether I leave, I will forever be impressed by my experiences here.

I think the big change happened with the CEO change over. Pat Daniel was an engineer with a code of ethics and worked for the employees and the shippers with a long term vision for the company. Al Monaco is an economist and works for the shareholders and the banks and only worries about the next 1/4. Enbridge became the focus of the stock market back in the recession in 08/09 and therefore the banks wanted someone in place that they could control. Also, Al created the mess that enbridge is in because he created the Major Projects cost estimating methodology that was based on inflating prices as high as possible that the shippers would pay. Now that the new pipelines and terminals are underperforming, the debts are that much bigger. If he would have listened to the engineers he would have known that building new pipelines and terminals attached to existing underperforming assets that they too would not perform. Thus causing a huge debt and now requires to let people go. Do remember that under Al's leadership (or lack there of) in 2012 he hired ~1,500 people in 1 year or roughly 15% of the company. In summary, Al needs to go!

Heard that virtually all of Enbridge staff takes long coffee breaks and slacks off often hence people like to work there, a "high pay and do little" culture. Friends bring in friends or family brings in family. Perhaps a transparent and fair recruitment process based on competence should be practiced more.

The company should perhaps consider "do more with less" to achieve efficacy and efficiency instead of hiring many staff who get paid high salary thru cranking up Albertans utility bills.

I was there for over 10 years and was laid off. What a great Company to work for. I was treated great. Things just slowed down and they needed to make cuts. Would love to go back to work for Enbridge

Very true, they're the worst company I ever worked for. They preach safety, integrity and respect, both do not follow through on anything. I would highly discourage anyone from taking a position at Enbridge