The union representing housekeepers at a pipeline camp who were involved in a bus crash near Prince George, B.C., on Friday says they鈥檙e awaiting a grievance decision over complaints about the long ride to get to work.

Unite Here Local 40 spokesperson Michelle Travis said Monday that Horizon North, which runs the lodge as part of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project, decided in March to move the housekeepers from on-site to Prince George to make room for pipeline workers.

That meant a four-hour round-trip ride each workday, which the union argued goes against a collective agreement requirement that they be housed on site.

Travis said most of the people on the bus were women and many were immigrants from Somalia and Ethiopia.

鈥淥ur concern was that in order to make more room for the pipeline workers, they needed to move somebody out,鈥� she said.

鈥淪o, Horizon North chose to move these workers two hours away 鈥� probably the lowest paid workers on the camp site and that鈥檚 who they chose to move off-site.鈥�

Arbitration of the grievance was completed the day before the crash, Travis said.

Thirty people were on board the bus that ran off a forestry service road on Friday. Police at the time said the cause of the crash was still unclear, but early morning rain on the gravel road made the conditions 鈥渜uite poor.鈥�

Travis said the 18 people hurt are recovering from injuries, including concussions and broken bones.

鈥淚 think also for many of them, they鈥檙e really replaying what happened over and over again,鈥� she said.

鈥淣eedless to say, it was traumatic, and there was one person who thought it was going to be the end for them.鈥�

The union is calling on the company to go back to providing accommodation for its workers on-site.

鈥淔rankly, we鈥檙e surprised this hasn鈥檛 happened sooner because the condition of those roads when it鈥檚 raining is not safe, clearly,鈥� Travis said.

鈥漇o, we really hope the company will work to ensure that (workers鈥�) safety is not put at risk going forward.鈥�

Horizon North did not immediately respond to a request for comment but said in a statement last week that it was 鈥渃onducting a full investigation to determine the cause of the incident.鈥�

鈥淥ur immediate priority is the safety and well-being of our employees and ensuring they receive the medical attention and support they need,鈥� the statement says.

鈥淲e are in the process of gathering additional information and will communicate with all relevant stakeholder groups as the situation develops.鈥�

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