Viterra has transferred an estimated 21 jobs from its longtime head office in Regina and from Winnipeg to its offices in Calgary.
Viterra president Mayo Schmidt, who along with a number of other senior executives has worked in Calgar y for a couple of years, sent a notice to staff this week informing them of the changes.
Schmidt said the transfers are being made to keep the company competitive.
“It is important that our global function and key supporting corporate function are in close proximity to our leadership team,” he told a Regina media outlet.
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Schmidt emphasized the transfer involves a small number of employees and doesn’t diminish Viterra’s strong presence in Regina and Saskatchewan.
A corporate statement released April 4 said it’s nothing new to have employees in Calgary and that doesn’t diminish the company’s commitment to the province of Saskatchewan.
In the statement, Viterra said approximately 480 employees work in the registered head office in Regina, with a total of 1,600 in Saskatchewan as a whole. Regina is home to grain handling and marketing operations for North America and for the agri-products division, with senior vice-presidents for both working in Regina.
” We expect to remain in Saskatchewan generating employment and economic returns for many years to come,” said the statement.
The 21 jobs being moved include four unionized and 17 management jobs. The four unionized employees were not given a chance to claim their old jobs in Calgary, said Hugh Wagner, general secretary of the Grain and General Services Union. Neither did Viterra consult with the union before it announced the transfers, he added.
Wagner said the transfers add fuel to the debate over where Viterra’s head office is located?
While Regina is still the officially registered head office, Wagner said rumours are circulating among employees following the recent developments, including outsourcing 50 information technology jobs to India in 2009-10 and this transfer to Calgary.
Asked if he believes they are a sign of things to come, Wagner pleaded ignorance.
“I don’t know, but when you take them together, it makes you wonder,” he said.
To an outsider, Regina would seem like a more economical place to operate than Calgary, he added.
