Case A - Oil Taxi^[1]

Oil Taxi was started about 15 years ago in the area of Fort MacKay, Alberta, which is situated just south of the Fort McKay First Nation's land and approximately 60km north of Fort McMurray, AB. The economy in the area is dominated by the oil industry because of the prominence of oil sands in the area. About 15 years ago, Albert MacBride wanted to find an entrepreneurial solution to serve the oil industry's growing demand in the area. On a visit to Fort McMurray, he happened to be near the main railway station and observed as the oil companies struggled to get their equipment and oil shipments efficiently on and off the train. Many of the workers were standing in place as it took nearly two hours for the handful people who had the training to move the equipment arriving and the oil containers. The majority of the drivers and other oil company employees were at a standstill during the loading/unloading process. From that experience, Albert's idea of an Oil Taxi was born.

Albert put all of his savings into starting a new company. Oil Taxi focused on making crude oil containers easier to move on and off the train and on and off the trucks carrying the oil to the train. His unique design was easy to fabricate and worked as an attachment to most company's existing equipment and carriers. His company started with 3-4 people who could fabricate their main product the Oil Taxi. Because he met a real industry need, his business grew quickly in the first 5 years and then again 9 years after being founded. Oil Taxi now had 300 people working in five locations in Alberta. Oil Taxi continued to service the Fort McMurray area as well as other prominent oil industry areas throughout Alberta. Given the rural nature of the area, Oil Taxi had become the second most prominent employer in northern Alberta. Second only to the main oil company working in northern Alberta.

Unfortunately for Albert and his employees, the oil industry was starting to decline because of increasing regulations on oil and gas companies and because of the trend in many parts of Canada towards electric cars and the use of other renewable energy sources. Oil and gas was losing its iron-grip on the economy. This impact, in turn, was trickling down and affecting Oil Taxi. Over the last three years, they had seen a combined decrease of 48% in their annual profits. Albert and the other top managers, all of whom were committed to providing sustainable employment for their employees, had cut their own divisions' spending budgets and even taken pay decreases to keep all of the current employees on.

These cuts had been felt throughout the organization. A prime example of this was when Albert and Chief Operating Officer, Owen, made the decision for the company to no longer pay for some of the safety gear that employees were used to wearing on the job as well. As well, Albert and Owen decided to cancel any unrequired safety trainings. Albert, Owen and the other top managers made sure that Oil Taxi paid for what they felt was the legal requirement for work safety standards, but they no longer provided full safety kits as some of the items extremely costly, but not necessary. This had been a hard decision because Albert and his top managers had always been committed to go above and beyond for their employees.

What's more, about four months ago, Albert and his HR top manager, Sandra, had made the tough decision to cut back hours by eliminating one of the three shifts, moving down to two shifts per day. \

Even though the front line employees hadn't lost any jobs, the shift changes made them feel insecure about their job security, not to mention they already felt hard-done-by for having to buy some of the safety gear out of their own pocket. There were budding discussions of unionizing amidst the employees. They wanted job security and they wanted to feel safe doing their jobs again.

Albert and Sandra had both heard the rumors of unionizing and were concerned about what to do next. Albert couldn't guarantee the job security that the employees wanted because he couldn't see the oil and gas industry changing much in the next few years. And as for the safety equipment, while he had been reluctant to cut these expenditures three years ago, the company had been able to stay afloat because they were saving upwards of $400,000 annually from choosing to do the minimum in terms of providing safety equipment and safety trainings. That was equivalent to nearly 12 employees' full-time salaries on the frontline.

He couldn't cut more from the top managers' salaries or he was certain they would seek employment elsewhere, leaving a huge human resource gap at the top. He knew that if he had to cute 12 employees to pay for the safety gear and trainging, it would mean layoffs in the Fort MacKay office, which was his hometown. Twelve people in Fort MacKay was almost as much as 20% of the town's population. The impact would have a ripple effect in the lives of these employees. Right now, only about 50% of Fort MacKay was even employed full-time, so laying off employees in Fort MacKay would really be a hit to the whole Fort MacKay community.

The reduction in tax dollars from oil and gas companies moving out combined with the loss of jobs in Fort MacKay could lead to the one K-12 public school in the area shutting down. As several of the teachers in the Fort MacKay's K-12 school were also employed at least part-time with the Fort McKay First Nation's schooling system, losing their primary income from the Fort MacKay public school would be personally devastating, possibly even leading to relocation and deserting their roles with the Fort McKay First Nation's school. Consequently, the impact on these teachers, especially if they chose to relocate would have wide-reaching impacts for Fort MacKay and the Fort McKay First Nation's educational systems.

He wanted provide more for his employees, he was desperate to keep Fort MacKay as above ground as possible, and he didn't want to put the school system in a vulnerable position, but he just couldn't figure out how to make things work. If he gave all the employees what they wanted (above what he was required to give), he would have to sacrifice a vulnerable employees in an economically and educationally vulnerable community. If he didn't give the workers what they wanted, then he risked them unionizing, which could be higher demands for salary, job security and safety equipment, which could potentially mean more employees were laid off and the necessary cuts might lead to him losing key top managers. Albert couldn't find a way forward that didn't feel wrong.