VICTORIA –The BC Building Trades(BCBT)and some of its membersintendedtoputpressureon politicians today, delivering a 2,600-plussignature petition urging the BC Conservatives to withdrawwhat they are calling an“anti-CBA/PLA bill.”
A private member’s billintroduced in March by Prince George-Mackenzie Conservative MLA Kiel Giddens coined “The Public Sector ion Projects Procurement Act” would require labour-neutral procurement on all public sector construction projects inB.C.and prohibit “government and crown corporations from issuing calls for construction that require building trades union-only labour or mandate that contractors enter into a specific collective agreement as a condition of bidding.”
The billgarneredsupport from associations such as theIndependent Contractors and Businesses AssociationandProgressive Contractors Association of Canada (PCA), but the BCBTlaunched a campaign“to protect Community Benefit and Project Labour Agreements.”
Today, a delegation of construction workers and stakeholders on both sides of the issue ventured to the legislature and intended to watch the debate unfold.
PCA and CLAC joined B.C. Conservative MLAs, construction workers and advocates in support of Private Member’s Bill M233. Others rallied against it.
“The BC Conservatives’ bill is nothing short of an attack on good-paying local jobs that support families and communities.We’rehere in Victoria today, calling on MLAs to vote against this harmful bill,” saidBrynn Bourke,executive directorfor the BCBT, in a statement.
“British Columbians, especially those in the skilled trades, expect public infrastructure projects to prioritize local hiring, create apprenticeship opportunities for young people, and deliver family-supporting wages.Community Benefits Agreements have delivered on that promise: 94 per cent of project hours have been worked by B.C. residents, and more than 1,550 trainees and apprentices have been employed.”
A release from the organization featured several quotes from workers includingSydney Stratton,aRed Sealironworker on the Pattullo Bridge project, who said:“Working under a CBA, I was able to guarantee apprenticeship hours, a good wageand work under qualified journeymen that taught me everything I needed to know. I am shocked the Conservative Party would try to take away these jobs and opportunities from people like me, and my brothers and sisters, who sharesimilar stories.”
Other workers quoted were from projects such as theCowichan District Hospital Replacement,Surrey-Langley Skytrain project,Broadway SubwayandKicking Horse Canyon Phase 4 project.
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