Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

FIONA FAMULAK: By wielding a legislative hammer to bring in an unjustifiable policy for the construction industry, Premier John Horgan’s government is implementing a solution that is looking for a problem


Reprinted with the approval of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association
** First published in the Province Newspaper Feb 24th


Preying on fear and pulling on the public’s heart strings will never make a prescriptive and regressive policy a good public policy.

Yet, that’s exactly what the NDP government and B.C. Building Trades unions are doing as they work to sell voters on the need to build key infrastructure projects under a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA).

Between them, they are touting benefits such as good-paying local jobs, increased hiring of women and Aboriginal workers, quotas for apprenticeship training, and labour peace as reasons to support the CBA.

While our association supports creating opportunities for women, Aboriginal workers and under-represented groups, the Vancouver Regional Construction Association does not support this CBA because of the way it was negotiated, the way it’s being rolled out, and its potential impact on the construction industry and B.C. taxpayers.

That’s not a partisan criticism of an NDP policy. As an independent, non-partisan organization representing both union and open-shop companies, we would make the same statement regardless of which political party is in power.

Our issue is that this CBA is an exclusive agreement between two signatories — the provincial government’s Crown corporation and the select trade unions. There was a lack of full industry consultation during its negotiation.

It includes an embedded project labour agreement, requiring all tradesmen and tradeswomen working on a CBA project to join the prescribed union and all companies working on CBA projects to secure their labour from the Crown corporation.

We are not concerned about who builds B.C.’s infrastructure — union and open-shop construction companies have successfully engaged each other for construction services for decades — but rather how it gets done.

Sadly, the rationale for the labour agreements is based on assumptions that don’t hold true.


It starts with the notion there are large, untapped pools of workers looking for jobs in the construction industry. While these pools exist, they are not to the extent needed for the construction industry to meet the demand for skilled labour in the coming years.

B.C.’s construction industry needs to attract 14,600 additional workers to meet peak market demand between 2019 and 2021. Over the next decade, it will need to attract 25,000 new workers to keep pace with demand and retirements.

Finding new workers will not be easy.

B.C.’s unemployment rate last month almost equals the lowest rate recorded in the past 40 years. At 4.6 per cent, our unemployment rate is close to what economists refer to as “full employment.” This means there is a scarcity of job seekers in B.C., and with only one in every 45 students entering a construction trade program out of high school, we need a strategy to grow our skilled workforce.

The project labour agreement will not grow our workforce. Instead, it will move skilled workers from their current employers to the new Crown corporation, leaving those employers with the challenge of rebuilding their workforce. In simple terms, the agreement will rob Peter to pay Paul. Our members tell us this is starting — B.C. Building Trades’ representatives are already trying to poach workers from construction sites.

The agreement also presumes that unions should be the source of industry training and ignores the apprenticeship programs that many union and open-shop construction employers already have in place. Our members recognize that an ongoing commitment to training and apprenticeship development is essential to sustaining a skilled workforce over the long term. Had industry been consulted, we would have explored what more we could do to reach the government’s targets for apprenticeship training.

Industry would have also talked about the efforts already underway to increase recruitment from groups traditionally underrepresented in the current construction labour force, including women, Indigenous workers and new Canadians.

Another assumption that doesn’t hold true is the B.C. Building Trades’ claim that the project labour agreement is needed to ensure construction of the Pattullo Bridge or widening of the Trans-Canada Highway is not disrupted by strikes. The truth is, the construction industry has enjoyed labour peace for more than 30 years.

With regards to how the project labour agreement is being rolled out, we have serious concerns about the lack of details coming from B.C. Infrastructure Benefits Inc. — the Crown corporation created as the employer and source of labour for CBA projects.

Construction companies need to know how the labour agreement will work operationally. If they don’t have the details, they will be forced to submit their bid without a complete understanding of project risk — if they choose to bid at all. Either scenario can only drive up the cost of construction.

There are numerous opportunities for industry and government to work together to achieve our mutually held goals. However, so far, government has opted to go it alone and negotiate a deal excluding a key stakeholder — construction employers.

By wielding a legislative hammer to bring in an unjustifiable policy for the construction industry, Premier John Horgan’s government is implementing a solution that is looking for a problem. It’s why the Vancouver Regional Construction Association has joined a coalition of like-minded business organizations to challenge the policy in court. British Columbians deserve better.




Fiona Famulak is president of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA), the largest construction association in B.C. 

The VRCA represents union and non-union general contractors, trade contractors, manufacturers, suppliers and professionals working in the construction industry.




NOTE:  Coalition asks the B.C. Supreme Court to strike down the Project Labour Agreement contained in B.C.’s Community Benefits Agreement

To read the full release CLICK HERE

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

GORDON F. D. WILSON: When The Trick Masquerades as The Treat

Thirty-seven years ago, Halloween 1987, I became the leader of the BC Liberal Party.   British Columbia was badly polarized. Social Credit held one side and the NDP the other. It had been twelve years, 1975, since Liberal MLAs Garde Gardom, Pat McGeer, and Alan Williams had walked away from their party to join Social Credit, one year after the lone Progressive Conservative MLA Hugh Curtis had abandoned his party to sit with Bill Bennett, the son and heir apparent to long-serving BC Premier, WAC Bennett.   An unwritten agreement by the biggest Canadian political shareholders, the federal Liberals and Conservatives, decided that if British Columbia was to remain a lucrative franchise from a revenue perspective, they couldn’t risk splitting the electoral vote and electing the real enemy, the NDP, so no resources would be used to finance either a Liberal or Conservative party provincially.   “There are two sides to every street,” I was told by a very prominent Canadian businessman who cont

FORSETH: As a BC Conservative member, and campaign worker, I will again state that the fact these errors were found -- AND brought to light BY Elections BC -- shows the system IS working

Sadly, two and a half weeks after the BC provincial election campaign, those who want to undermine our political process are still at.  PLUS, we also have one who doesn’t even live in our country, never mind our province. I speak of the buffoon running for President of the United States, who has poisoned the well when it comes to faith in the electoral process. Just today alone, comments such as the following, were being made of posts that I shared online: ... all the votes they keep finding has just favoured NDP on in all critical ridings and soon they will flip another riding in favour of NDP, Come on. ... Elections BC has ridiculed British Columbians, and I no longer have confidence or trust in their process and competence regarding the results Then there are others online, with comments like these – who are claiming fraud in the October 19th election: ... Who is the oversight for Elections BC? They should be investigated for election fraud! ... Fraudulent election ... should be red

“With the talent and dedication of this caucus we will hold David Eby to account for his government’s out of control spending and ongoing failures in healthcare, public safety and addictions" — John Rustad

Today, John Rustad, Leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia, proudly unveiled his shadow cabinet, a dynamic team of talented individuals ready to hold David Eby’s disastrous government accountable and present a strong alternative vision for British Columbia. “ Our shadow cabinet is a diverse and experienced group, committed to restoring prosperity, public safety, and affordability for every British Columbian ,” said Rustad. “ With experts in every field, we are focused on delivering real solutions for the challenges our province faces .” Rustad emphasized the historic appointment of Aaliya Warbus as House Leader. The shadow cabinet reflects the Conservative Party’s vision to build a brighter future for British Columbia. The appointments are as follows: Leadership Positions : Aaliya Warbus – House Leader Bruce Banman – Whip Sheldon Claire – Deputy Whip Portfolios : Tony Luck – Municipal Affairs and Local Government Sharon Hartwell – Rural Communities and Rural Development I

Labels

Show more