Aboriginal workers filling jobs on Muskrat Falls projects

Progress is moving steadily along at Nalcor's Muskrat Falls site in Labrador, and people from aboriginal groups across Labrador are finding work in various capacities.

The hydroelectric megaproject has more than 2,500 people from Newfoundland and Labrador employed in different capacities. About 400 of the Labrador workers are from various aboriginal groups.

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Penote Rich, from Sheshatshiu, said before he came to work on transmission lines for the project, he had few job skills and little opportunity to find work.

Rich said thanks to the Labrador Aboriginal Training Partnership and Nalcor, he was able to go to college and get skills he needed to get a job with the Muskrat Falls project.

"It's a good thing for me. It's like 75 kilometres from home here, so it's a good thing," said Rich.

Rich is one of the Innu working on assembling the 1,260 transmission towers, and each tower takes about a week to assemble.

"It's hard work — there's a lot of work to be done on these towers, every day working 11 hours a day," he said.

Rich said he's enjoying the work and he's not sure where he'll find work next, but plans to stick with the Muskrat Falls project as long as possible.

"I'm going to wherever this job takes me."

Transferable skills

But it's not just assembly and construction workers who are finding work; operating one of the biggest hydroelectric projects in the world means a lot of support staff is needed for day-to-day operations.

Julianna Rich, from Sheshatshiu, works in the kitchen, making sure other workers are being fed while on the job.

"Everyday I would do the coffee, do everything like putting the milk out, the cereal, everything needs to be set up before people [arrive] at 4:30 for breakfast," she said.

While she used to work for the band in Sheshatshiu, Rich said finding work in the area was more of a challenge before Nalcor kicked up operations in Labrador.

"There's hardly jobs in our community, but still a lot of people are still looking for jobs — some are. There's so much happening — a lot of change and it's only in our backyard," she said.

Through the training programs, more than 1,000 aboriginal people have been able to get training to qualify for various jobs at Muskrat Falls, and when the project wraps up, they'll have the skills and work experience to translate to other jobs.