Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The taxpayers of British Columbia (you and I) are ultimately accountable for the costs of bargaining contracts with unions representing employees of the government. There are currently over 430,000 * British Columbian’s, or just under 11% of the province’s adult population, working in the core public service, at Crown corporations and agencies, in health and community social services, K-12 public education, post-secondary, and research universities.   Of those people, more than 330,000 are unionized employees – they receive approximately $30.4 billion in compensation -- more than half the provincial budget.   It should be noted that a 2% wage increase per year -- for all employees including unionized, non-union, and management employees -- costs taxpayers just under two thirds of a billion dollars (approximately $608 million) Since February three year agreements, based on two percent increases each year, have been negotiated with: The ...

Just recently the Council of Construction Associations (COCA) released the July workplace incident summary, from WorkSafeBC .   These reports, according to WorkSafeBC are published to alert employers and workers to hazards in their industry . While I feel certain that since my mining days in the late 70’s, the number of, and severity of, workplace accidents have declined dramatically, the following list of incidents indicates the workplace is still unsafe for many British Columbians. A worker was framing a wood frame wall using an air-nailer. The worker took a step back and inadvertently bumped into a second worker. The air-nailer contacted and released a 3-inch nail into the second worker.  An arborist in the lower mainland was cutting the top (about 13 feet long) off a tree. As the tree top dropped to ground, a grounds-person walked into the arborist's work zone and was struck by the falling top, resulting in multiple injuries. A worke...