Suncor is trying to kill rumours that 800 Koreans arrived to work at the Fort Hills mine project.
The company says it does have six Korean workers on contract who started on the site recently, and they’re all in management positions.
Spokesperson Kelli Stevens says labour shortages and turnover means Suncor often has to hire contractors from overseas, but the number of Korean workers on site has been blown out of proportion. She also said more workers haven’t been hired in the short-term, meaning there isn’t a few hundred foreign workers on the way, as suggested by the reports.
The Alberta Federation of Labour was in contact with Unifor, the union representing all Suncor workers. It was also told there’s six Korean engineers working on the site.
The AFL is aware that reports starting popping up on social media this weekend, and it’s looking into where the rumours originated.
Fort Hills is 90 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. Officials estimate it will create jobs for about 5,000 construction workers at the peak of construction.
