THE MAGAZINE OF THE BC BUILDING TRADES 2013 VOL. 16 NO. 2

ttrraaddeett aallWEkk BUILD BC ™

Union members have the power to determine the next provincial leader

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40848506 Special Election Issue 2 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 PUBLISHED BY THE BC B UILDING TRADES

EDITOR Tom Sigurdson ELECTION ISSUE EDITORIAL SERVICES tradet alk Face to Face Communications The magazine of The bC building Trades CFU 2040

DESIGN /P HOTOGRAPHY Joshua Berson PhotoGraphics Ltd. CEP 525G FEATURES ADVERTISING MANAGER Claudia Ferris CEP 525G 6 Your vote counts more than you think

Tradetalk Magazine is published four times a year by the BC BUILDING TRADES 7 Two candidates with close ties to the building trades #209 88 10th St. New Westminster, B.C. V3M 6H8 8 What we've got… 778-397-2220 [email protected] www.bcbuildingtrades.org 9 What we need All rights reserved. Material published may 10 Imagining a better future be reprinted providing permission is grant - ed and credit is given. Views expressed are those of the authors. No statements in the 12 Liberals’ apprenticeship approach could sink the industry magazine express the policies of the BC BUILDING TRADES , except where indica ted. 16 Time for workers’ rights 18 Heartless business model has to end The council represents approximately 35,000 unionized construction workers in B.C. and 10 affiliated local unions. 20 It's time for workers to show the BC Liberals the door Spring 2013 22 First, they came for the electricians ISSN 1480-5421 Printed in Canada by Mitchell Press 26 The connection between bad labour legislation Base Subscription Rate –– $24 Cdn. per year in Canada and the U.S. and benefit plans For subscriptions outside Canada and the U.S.––$32 Cdn. per year. 28 Building trades unions build on series of legal victories

Publications Mail Agreement Special No. 40848506 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: #209 88 10th St. New Westminster, B.C. V3M 6H8 Election Issue

Cover : (Clockwise) Raj Takhar (Electrical Workers Local 230), Janet Gravelle (District Council 38), Shelton Executive Board and Officers Alphonse (Sheet Metal and Roofers Local 276), Cody Lee Loftus, President; Planes (District Council 38), and Greg Gyorfi (Electrical Workers Local 230) met with (centre) NDP Leader Adrian Insulators Dix outside the provincial legislature. Mark Olsen, Vice President; Photo : Joshua Berson Construction and Specialized Workers Jim Paquette, Secretary-Treasurer; Sheet Metal, Roofers and Production Workers

Rob Tuzzi, Bricklayers and Allied Trades Chris Feller, Cement Masons Jim Pearson, UNITE HERE Ray Keen, IBEW Provincial Council Tradetalk is printed on Forest Stewardship Council ® James Leland, Ironworkers certified paper from responsible sources. The FSC ® is an Brian Cochrane, Operating Engineers independent, not-for-profit organization promoting responsible Don Doerksen, Teamsters management of the world's forests. Tom Sigurdson, Executive Director

Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tradetalk 3 Starting Point

How do we get your attention? eyes and believe them when they tell us they know best how to handle our economy. Check the facts! Dear Voters: One: The provincial debt has risen by 50% under the reign The Sex Party was a registered political party in the last of the people who controlled Gordon Campbell and now B.C. election! So was the Work Less Party of B.C. Now that I Christy Clark ($33.8 billion in 2001 to over $50 billion in have your attention, please vote in the upcoming provincial 2012). Odd election. Check out the registered parties at www.bcvote.ca/ Two: The current “balanced “ provincial budget is actually provincial-parties. out of balance by a revenue shortfall of over $600 million. We live in challenging times. The cost of living keeps The budget proposes selling off our assets to make up for the going up, and our wages do not increase at the same rate. It imbalance. That is like a homeowner selling the land the seems everyone is making a living rather than having a life. family house is on in order to make the mortgage payments The current B.C. Liberal government does not operate to for the year. This they call “balanced.” Odd the benefit of working people. We all rely on the infrastruc - Three: The Liberal government is spending millions to tell tures that our tax dollars pay for. We need qualified trades us about booming job prospects for our young people while people and apprenticeship programs. We need affordable, young people are unemployed and our government abets accessible post-secondary education. We need project labour companies bringing in “temporary workers” instead of using agreements. We need our teachers and nurses and janitors to the extraction of our resources as a lever to force employers have the right to strike in the collective bargaining process. to train those who own the resource. The recent example of Some say they don't follow politics or they don't like the coal mine in northern B.C. is but one instance. Odd politicians so they don't vote. Or that it doesn't matter who Four: The recent introduction of the HST shifted so much gets in, it's the lesser of evils, bad or worse. Or voting is a of the tax load to the poor and middle-income people that waste of time. While our options may be limited, and the the provincial government reduced income taxes, which perfect party may not exist, we do have choices, and we mostly favoured the high-end earners. When we the people have the privilege of participating in a democratic process forced a reversal of the HST, the Liberals made no mention by voting. Thousands of people fight and risk their lives of restoring the income tax to the pre-HST level. Odd protesting for the rights that we take for granted. They If we ignore these and similarly odd things, that will be travel for days and line up for hours so they can simply the oddest thing of all. cast a ballot. I urge you to look behind the curtain. Please pay atten - Our fore fathers and mothers fought hard for the standard tion to the ones pulling the levers. We working people of living and privileges that we take for granted need someone on our side pulling the levers of power for everyday. Honour our hard earned rights by voting. our benefit. “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics Yours in solidarity, is that you end up being governed by your Jim Lippert inferiors.” — Plato Honourary Life Member Callie Rosa BC Building Trades Labourers Local 1611 Politics is not a spectator sport No yellow brick road To the editor, in the Land of Odd In the past 11 years, under the current Liberal govern - To the editor: ment, we have seen the loss of compulsory trade certifica - Unlike the advice given to Dorothy in the Land of Oz, I tion in the electrical industry and more people, without any invite all voters to look behind the curtain being pulled Canadian work experience, challenging the electrical Red around us here in the land of Odd. Seal exam. The unorganized construction sector is offering Our government and its owners, the mega rich and mega next to no apprenticeships. Electrical apprentices now have corporations, keep working to convince us that we should to schedule there own training and pay, on average, $1,500 not trust the NDP because (they say) the NDP will bring in for each level of trades training if they do not belong to a deficit budgets and run our province into debt. They keep building trades union. It’s appalling that building trades saying that we should pay no attention to what is before our unions are not allowed to bid on the construction of run of river projects. As a younger union member, I do not want to be remem - We welcome your comments... bered as being part of the generation who let it all slip away, leaving workers in the future to claw and fight their The opinions expressed in Starting Point are not way back. necessarily those of the BC Building Trades Council or its When union sisters and brothers are on the job, not only affiliates. Send letters (the shorter the better) to the editor at: are they receiving fair wages to be able to maintain a decent BC BUILDING TRADES , #209 88 10th St. standard of living, they often outperform in terms of quality New Westminster, B.C. V3M 6H8 or and timeliness. [email protected] Sisters and brothers, I ask you to take on the challenge, Letters must include your name, address, phone number and, that has been well fought in the past, and carry the torch where relevant, union affiliation, trade or company. not only for ourselves but for our children. If you are a work - er, it is imperative that you exercise your right to shape this province. Get involved in the upcoming election.

continued on next page 30

4 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 From the editor tom sigurdson

There is only one choice if we are to survive

JUST BEFORE THE 2001 PROVIN - Under her premiership, we have ment has had organized labour in its CIAL GENERAL ELECTION, I had a had four labour ministers and only crosshairs since it took office in 2001 meeting with then Leader of the one of them accepted any input and, in many respects, it pulled the Official Opposition Gordon Camp - from labour. Under Clark, the trigger and had direct hits. We have bell. Knowing there were likely to be apprenticeship system continued to the power to make the change and changes to the BC Labour Code (among other pieces of legislation), I asked if there were going to be pub - We need a change in government in order lic hearings prior to any changes being made. He told me that the to get the changes we need for our industry. Liberals had held their public hear - ings and we, the building trades, You have the power to make a change. If you were not at the table. Truer words were never spoken. In don’t like what you see…get out and vote! the 12 years the Liberals have gov - erned B.C., the BC Building Trades (and the labour movement general - crumble. Even though the govern - we must make that change if we are ly) have been unwelcome partici - ment said it was a priority, funding going to survive. pants—even on matters that impact levels were reduced to levels which Election day is May 14, but I am us directly. shocked even some of the Liberal so keen for a change in government Within months of taking office, MLAs with whom I spoke. And as for that I will line up early at the the Liberal government amended injured workers, our union organiza - advance poll on May 8 to be one of the Labour Code removing the sec - tions are continuously representing the first to cast a ballot to get rid of tion that directly applied to the workers who are injured at work this lot. unionized construction industry. It then abused in the aftermath. You have the power to make a further amended the code to make it We need a change in government change. If you don’t like what you virtually impossible to organize in order to get the changes we need see, for goodness sakes…get out and workers into our unions and, when for our industry. The Liberal govern - vote! we did, it was an additional hurdle to get to a collective agreement. It turned WorkSafeBC from a workers’ compensation board to an employ - ers’ insurance agency. It gutted the The building Trades—Who we are apprenticeship system to the point Phone Web address B.C. Building and where even the Industry Training Construction Trades Council 778-397-2220 www.bcbuildingtrades.org Authority, which is supposed to look after apprentices, hasn’t heard from affiliated unions over half of the registered appren - Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 2 604-584-2021 www.bac2bc.org tices in its system. Cement Masons & Plasterers Local 919 604-585-9198 www.opcmia919.org Adding insult to injury, the gov - ernment changed the governance Construction & Specialized Workers Local 1611 604-432-9300 www.cswu1611.org model to either eliminate or limit Electrical Workers Local 213 (Vancouver) 604-571-6500 www.ibew213.org our participation at WorkSafeBC, the Industry Training Authority and Electrical Workers Local 230 (Victoria) 250-388-7374 www.ibew230.org every other board or commission Electrical Workers Local 993 (Kamloops) 250-376-8755 www.ibew993.org where we were once partners. Electrical Workers Local 1003 (Nelson) 250-354-4177 www.ibew1003.org In the years following the 2001 Heat and Frost Insulators Local 118 604-877-0909 www.insulators118.org election, only once did I meet with Ironworkers Local 97 604-879-4191 www.ironworkerslocal 97.com Premier Campbell and it was not a Operating Engineers Local 115 604-291-8831 www.iuoe115.org pleasant meeting. My predecessor, Sheet Metal, Roofers and Wayne Peppard, never was afforded Production Workers Local 280(Vancouver) 604-430-3388 www.smw280.org the opportunity to meet with Pre - Sheet Metal, Roofers and mier Campbell. And nothing Production Workers Local 276 (Victoria) 250-727-3458 www.smwia276.ca changed when Christy Clark became Teamsters Local 213 604-876-5213 www.teamsters213.org premier. In fact, things got worse. UNITE HERE Local 40 604-291-8211 www.local40union.com

Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tradetalk 5 tant it is to get out to the polls and vote. In the last election only 55% of Your vote counts eligible voters voted. Over one million people who could have voted in the May 2009 election didn’t. more than you think Your vote matters because it is the Brynn Bourke greatest mechanism you have to hold BC Building Trades Researcher enfranchised with the whole process your government accountable. Not and stay home on election day. It’s a only on election day, but every day. The BC Liberals have spent a lot of despicable practice. And the Liberals Governments treat their time in office money trying to convince you not to were engaging in it because they know as a campaign. They choose policies vote. Of course, no one comes right how important your vote really is. and pass legislation they feel most out and says “don’t vote.” That would In the last election, the BC Liberals likely will get them re-elected. When be crude. But the message is clear and were able to hold on to government you don’t vote, you send a message to they and their friends have been by about 3,500 votes spread over a few government that it doesn’t need to repeating it on every radio and TV sta - swing ridings. Seats like Maple Ridge- campaign to you. They don’t need to tion they can lay their hands on. Mission were won by 68 votes. A small pass legislation that benefits your In 2011, the BC Liberal party crew of building trades members family, because your opinion won’t be launched an attack website against working on the Golden Ears Bridge registered. Adrian Dix. They spent nearly a year could have swung the balance. The BC Liberals have clearly done throwing mud at the NDP leader until All across the province, ridings were the math and found they lack suffi - it was discovered that the attack site won and lost by a handful of votes. In cient public support to run a positive was actually created by Liberal caucus Cariboo-Chilcotin, NDP MLA Charlie campaign. They have spent the last 12 staff while on the government payroll. Wyse lost his seat by a mere 88 votes. years campaigning to a smaller and The ensuing scandal forced the site to In Saanich North and the Islands, Lib - smaller group of people. And now, come down. Yet, a mere two months eral MLA Murray Coell held on to his those elite few aren’t enough to carry later another site rose up to fill its seat by a slim margin of 258 votes. them to another electoral victory. place. This time the Liberals called on Even in supposed Liberal strongholds Thus the only path to victory for this their friend Jim Shepard to finance a like Vancouver-Point Grey, your vote struggling government is to encourage $1 million negative advertising cam - counted. In the last by-election, you not to vote. paign against Dix. Christy Clark barely edged out a win With so much at stake, it’s critical In political circles, negative cam - by 564 votes. In that case, the NDP that you send the BC Liberals a mes - paigns go by another name: voter sup - candidate David Eby actually won the sage of your own. Let them know that pression. The sole goal of voter sup - popular vote on election day, but this kind of negative campaigning pression campaigns is to alienate vot - Clark was able to pull out ahead in the won’t keep you away from the polls. ers by throwing so much mud at an advance polls and hold the seat. Send a message that you want opponent that voters will become dis - These examples show how impor - change. Vote.

Cheryl Arseniuk Charge Hand Electrical Workers Local 230

We should buy built-in-B.C. ships and support our local industry. I’d like to see our ferry system go back to being publicly run. We need to take appren - “ticeships seriously and provide better training by making sure every appren - tice is supported and supervised by a Red Seal journeyperson. Changes c i h

p made to our apprenticeship system a r g

have made it harder for us to develop e k u

L skilled trades people. n w

a Photo Claudia Ferris h S 6 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 ” Two candidates with close ties to the building trades

Many people in the building trades and their friends and supporters are working hard on election campaigns throughout the province. Two candidates have close ties to the BC Building Trades Council.

Andrew Mercier, a member of Team - next door (Fort Langley-Aldergrove), is sters Local 213, is the NDP candidate in a co-owner with his wife Leslie, of Face Langley. Mercier is challenging incum - to Face Communications. He has been bent MLA Mary Polak and running assisting the BC Building Trades and against Conservative Party leader John several affiliates with their communica - Cummins. tions for 16 years. “We have been knocking on a lot of Dyson is running against Liberal doors these past few months,” Mercier Deputy Premier Rich Coleman. “People Erik Madsen said, “and I am happy to report that a here notice more and more that deci - Foreman lot of people want a change in the gov - sions are being made in Victoria by a Electrical Workers Local 230 ernment.” But he said he’s very frus - select few without any consultation trated when he hears people saying with the people affected by those deci - Transparency is important to me. they are not planning to vote. “I am sions,” he said. “The common theme There needs to be more public out - hearing that almost as often as people I’m hearing is that people just want to reach and more explanation of saying they want change. be part of the conversation. upcoming government policies. “People aren’t voting because they “I have been meeting with people There should be no implementation understand what the problems are and from many different groups—farmers, “of new policy without consultation. they don’t trust the government to fix faith groups, the Chamber of Com - them.” merce and the Rotary Club—people we Photo Claudia Ferris The HST issue “caused a profound don’t usually talk to and I’m asking loss of faith with government,” he said, them how an MLA can address their ” “and the only way we can restore that concerns…They all seem to have many faith is to actually follow through on of the same issues that labour, environ - our actions. mentalists and social justice advocates “This current government is com - have. They all tell me, ‘We’re not being pletely out of gas and have stopped listened to.’” asking themselves the political ques - Dyson said the priorities of the next tions. They don’t care if it is fair or just, government must be investing in they just care what the polls say. And trades training and post-secondary the credibility gap they are suffering education. “There also needs to be a right now, isn’t something $15 million more balanced Labour Code,” he said. in government advertising is going to “The Labour Code is sort of like a Bill fix. We need a government that listens of Rights for workers. For the last 10 to people and is responsible,” he said. years it has been weighted in the Shane Dyson, running in the riding other direction.”

Two candidates with building trades connections: Teamsters Local 213 member Andrew Mercier (shown here with NDP Deputy Leader Carole James) and Shane Dyson from Face to Face Communications which helps produce Tradetalk. Dave Small Superintendent Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 324

We need mass transit over the Malahat and into Victoria to cut down on the amount of traffic on the high - way. The E&N railway tracks are already in place for transit. People will “use an efficient and on-time service, especially when it wouldn’t be shut down by accidents on the existing highway. The population growth in this region is considerable and mass transit would cut down significantly on our carbon footprint. Photo Claudia Ferris Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUIL”DING TRADES tradetalk 7 Photos: Joshua Berson • a Labour Code that puts business economic viability ahead of workers’ rights What we’ve got… • labour law that allows 12-year-old workers • changed labour laws that make union organizing as It didn’t take the Liberal government long to dismantle difficult as possible provincial regulations and policies to benefit the business • revised labour laws that allow associations like CLAC to community and directly attack trade unions. Since 2002, flourish there have been many dramatic changes that have • Labour Relations Board staffing cuts that have led to the reduced workers’ rights and protection. Chances are, you delay of decisions for years or someone you know, has felt the effects of: • LRB vice chairs who are political appointees rather than people who understand the construction industry • large construction projects going non-union or to compa - • cuts of 20% to compensation for workers disabled by nies signed up with employer-friendly associations injury • rewritten labour laws that favour employers • disability pensions that end at age 65 • legislation that allows WorkSafeBC to claw back up to |50% of CPP disability benefits • compensation not keeping up with inflation and thousands of injured workers being denied loss-of- earnings pensions • appeal system changes that make it less likely for injured workers to win compensation appeals • safety regulations (written in response to workers’ injuries or deaths) cut by one-third [the government was forced to restore some of them] • over 50% of registered construction apprentices who have not taken any technical training and are lost in the system • an impotent Employment Standards Branch that can’t help workers who’ve been cheated or treated unfairly by malicious or ignorant employers • workers who are looking for solutions to their problems with their employers having to resort to a multi-page selfhelp kit that then requires them to fix the problems themselves • Employment Standards Branch staff who can no longer investigate workers’ complaints; only “accept and review complaints” • a law that excludes union workers from employment standards so that some union employees are receiving even less protection • workers losing overtime pay because employers can c i h average overtime work over several weeks p a r g

• employers no longer having to post schedules of work e k u hours or give 24 hours notice of shift changes L n

w • double-time pay for employees working during their 32 a h

S hours of rest having been reduced to time and a half

8 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 - ensuring that the LRB chair has the support of all stakeholders What we need - providing necessary resources to prevent backlogs • amend the Employment Standards Act by— We’ve got a better chance of reversing some of these - removing the provisions that allow child labour misguided changes with an NDP government. Here’s - scrapping averaging agreements that allow 80-hour what we want to see: straight-time work weeks - scrapping the self-help complaint process- requiring • project labour agreements on infrastructure construc - investigation of complaints (not just their acceptance tion—highways, SkyTrain extensions, bridges and power and review) projects - allowing complaints to be filed within two years of • equitable tendering policy applied to government employment termination (rather than the current six construction—hospitals, schools and other government months) buildings - allowing complainants to recover denied rights back to • attention to the numerous problems surrounding four years (rather than the current six months) apprenticeship training by— - ensuring that employment standards cover all workers - establishing a commission on compulsory trades whether they belong to a union or not - supporting national standards and full-scope tradestraining - changes to the governance of all apprenticeship boards and committees that will include equal participation from labour, government and business • attention to the many hardships that came with the last government’s changes to workers’ compensation by— - restoring lifetime pensions for permanently disabled workers - restoring loss-of-earnings for workers injured on the job - repealing cuts to compensation rates - restoring the appeal system to make sure it provides fairness - bringing back prevention regulations that were removed when deregulation eliminated one-third of them - removing the claw-back of up to 50% of CPP disability benefits - increasing staffing to provide timely, comprehensive service to victims and their families • amend the BC Labour Code by— - changing the focus from safeguarding company profits to protection of workers c i

- introducing “free choice” card certification h p a r

- returning the construction organizing period to g

e k

summer months when people are working u L

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• a return to balance on the Labour Relations Board by— w a h

- banning cabinet interference in vice-chair selection S

Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tradetalk 9 n o s r e B

Government, labour and business working together a u h s o J

: s o t o

Imagining a better future h P

Recently, Tom Sigurdson, executive director of the BC Building Trades, met with NDP Leader Adrian Dix to talk about specific issues of concern to building trades members.

TS: The way apprenticeships are man - aged changed dramatically under the Liberals. Completion rates are way down under the Industry Training Authority. What would you offer apprentices to enable them to complete their apprentice - ships? AD: More spaces, more supports and a stronger voice for the unionized sec - tor which has much higher comple - tion rates. Good-paying jobs in communities, that’s how to address inequality. The skills training issue is critical for pros - perity and for the middle class. NDP Leader Adrian Dix tells Tom Sigurdson, executive director of the BC Building Trades, that private sector unions have a role to play in future economic initiatives. We know the jobs of the future will require training and post-secondary TS: Governments spend great sums of for training for many people for a education. We’re not meeting that money building projects like hospitals, long time. Public projects provide test now but it would be our number schools, roads and bridges. Would you those opportunities. one priority. It’s a critical part of our have apprentice requirements in publicly platform. TS: Do you see a return to compulsory let projects? trade certification in British Columbia? It would provide a tremendous opportunity for us to work closely AD: The public sector hasn’t done AD: I think elimination of this was a with the business community and very well supporting apprentices in case in which the Liberals let ideolo - the labour community on an issue recent years. One of the most success - gy get in the way of common sense. where we have joint interests. We’re ful things about a project such as the The labour market has changed. We not arguing; we’re working together Island Highway was the apprentice - desperately need skilled tradespeople. to achieve success. ship component. It provided a base By devaluing trade qualifications, the

10 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 Liberals essentially discouraged peo - Code. Would an NDP government con - ple who might have considered sider a separate section in the code that careers in the trades. And now, as is construction industry specific? everyone knows, we have a serious AD: Yes, we’re looking at that. We skills shortage. want to have a limited number of TS: Unfortunately, the construction practical changes and time to work industry has the worst record for fatali - together on growing the economy— ties due to trauma at the workplace, but that’s what we intend to do. also due to long-term exposure to toxic TS: If the P3 model continues, can you substances. What would you do to envisage a time when we would be able address this? to use B.C. workers’ pension funds as AD: You and I go to a number of investment tools? events every year that are part of the AD: Absolutely it is something we are history of this province: the Bentall looking at. We have to. I think it is Tower tragedy, the Iron Workers crucial that we build infrastructure Bridge Commemoration and the and that we find ways to do it. That April 28th Day of Mourning. We’ve is why we intend to use some of the Sean Hennon moved away from injured workers carbon tax, for example, to support and prevention being at the centre of Senior rigging chargehand public transit and rural infrastructure Ironworker policy decisions. There has to be a in B.C. I think the ability to produce bigger voice for workers at Work - and build infrastructure is crucial for We need to bring back the tripartite SafeBC. Both workers’ compensation government. and employment standards need dra - structure of the BC apprenticeship matically stronger enforcement mod - TS: You talk about using best practices program, which included representa - els. Those changes will happen. from other provinces. Ontario uses a tives from labour, business and government. The Liberals took away construction secretariat to promote “ labour representation when they cre - TS: Our jobs are always temporary and skilled trades and quality construction. ated the Industry Training Authority. this is not recognized in the Labour Can you see something like a construc - And ferry rates shouldn't keep tion secretariat model in British increasing. The ferries are part of our Columbia? highway system and British AD: We’re going to lay out specific Columbians should only have to pay things in our platform that will show one way to get to Vancouver Island our strong intention to lead on from the mainland. trades and training. I think the key is Photo Claudia Ferris not to go into it, as the Liberals did, with one set idea, but to work with business and with labour to find ” solutions. We have the ITA with completion rates of 35% and trade union-led pro - grams that have completion rates of 95%. It’s not for any other reason than that the union system has been successful in training excellent and prepared skilled workers. Private sector unions are the strongest allies of economic develop - ment the business community has and I think there’s an opportunity here to work together to provide sup - port for economic initiatives. Jim Noon Marketing Director Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 324

Many in our workforce are retiring and we’re going to need thousands of tradespeople to fill those jobs. In this period of economic recovery, lots of “workers are retraining. We need fund - ing and equipment to provide train - ing for the industrial and residential construction sectors. The Industry c i

h Training Authority needs a revamp to p a r improve how our apprenticeship pro - g

m

a grams are funded and administered. L

e

s Photo Claudia Ferris o J Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tr”adetalk 11 liberals’ apprenticeship approach could sink the industry n o s r e B a u h s o J

:

o Chris Cummings, an apprentice at the time this photo was taken, had the advantage of learning his trade at a union trade school. t o

h Apprentices without union support are falling through the cracks. P

the provincial Liberals introduced “a terri - workforce. Not surprisingly, construction contractors have in 2002 ,bly flawed idea about trades training,” said been bringing in temporary foreign workers to fill the gap. Jim Sinclair, president of the BC Federation of Labour. Little Many people point to the abysmal performance of the has been done to rectify all the problems that resulted. government’s Industry Training Authority, which replaced The BC Liberals cut apprenticeship support and, in 2003, the Industry Training and Apprenticeship Commission. In they relaxed regulations making Red Seal certification and 2002, many support staff and counsellors were laid off even full-scope trades training an option rather than a require - before the new ITA had an operating budget, which brought ment. That left the construction industry unable to address most government-funded apprenticeships to a halt. In addi - the shortage of skilled tradespeople brought on by an aging tion, the ITA is run by appointees from employer groups.

12 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 These setbacks and the decline of unionized construction Zaolo Rumaldo brought on by the Liberals’ anti-union labour laws and reg - Cement Finisher ulation changes has led to an industry plagued with declin - Operative Plasterers’ and ing working conditions, lack of accountability for develop - Cement Masons’ Local ers and contractors, poor quality construction, slack Union 919 enforcement of regulations, a litany of business and project failures, questionable investment sources and little con - Health, social security sumer protection. and apprenticeship train - Many fear the industry is being driven into a state of per - ing are my main con - manent depression—unable to attract new workers, meet cerns. The cost of living market demand or ensure quality and safety of building is higher. Getting in the projects. “union is the only way we “The trades represent 18% of the working population in can survive. For the next B.C., yet only 4% of the [provincial] Advanced Education election we need a budget goes to trades training,” according to the BC Build - change so I’m going to ing Trades Apprenticeship Committee, and the building be voting NDP. trades unions provide training for 50% of all active con - struction apprenticeships in the province. B.C.’s construction industry, estimated at about $16 bil - lion per year, is among the province’s largest, according to many economists. Yet the government has no ministry ded - ” icated to regulating or servicing its needs. Photo Michael Brophy David Podmore, CEO of Concert Properties (one of West - ern Canada’s largest developers and a union-sponsored enterprise), told the Urban Development Institute that the Mike Oakley industry largely owes its success over the past 50 years to Concrete Foreman union-trained, post-World War Two European immigrants. Operative Plasterers’ and However, provincial government changes and lack of sup - Cement Masons’ Local port for apprenticeships are making it difficult to attract Union 919 new and younger workers. “(European countries) are a source of some very highly skilled, very well-qualified peo - Sustainable funding is my ple,” he said.Yet even they will not be available in high concern. We are taxed to enough numbers to meet the demand. death and we can’t Employers, labour and government watchers agree that afford anymore. Keep changes are urgently needed. Jud Martell, chair of the BC taxes stable and don’t Building Trades Apprenticeship Committee, said the ITA “ increase them. And skills needs to act like an authority. “Just do something! If it does - training is really impor - n’t work, try something else. That’s the tradesperson men - tant for me. We need tality, but its not transferring to the apprenticeship system.” more government money going into trades train - b.C. budget a big let down ing.

Just a few months ago, the Industry Training Authority (ITA) in B.C. said the Liberal government’s provincial bud - ” Photo Michael Brophy continued on next page

Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tradetalk 13 continued from previous page

get will provide adequate funding for construction trades training in the province. But that’s not how union leaders see it. Construction unions see the 2013 budget as a com - plete failure. Kevin Evans, CEO of the ITA and at odds with everyone in the BC Building Trades, told the Journal of Commerce, “We have a budget that will meet our needs over the next few years…The government has a real commitment to skills training and I am pleased with their support in a “I’ll never get my trade tight economic environment.” ticket if my boss won’t The ITA receives most of its revenue from the provincial government and additional funding from the federal gov - submit the hours I’ve ernment for special programs. worked.” “One of the things that was absent from the budget is trades training,” said Tom Sigurdson, executive director of the BC Building Trades. “The government took to the air - waves in the last few months to talk about the impor - tance of skills training, but the budget allocates no new money for this. “They should have taken the millions of dollars they spent on advertising and put it into counsellors for trades training.” It’s been widely publicized that the B.C. Liberal government has paid $15 million in taxpayers’ dollars for a television advertising campaign. m a

s This year’s budget cuts some training initiatives, includ - h u R

ing youth programs, to $15 million in 2013-14 from $18 l l i B

million in 2012-13. The program will be cut to $5 million y b

e in the following two years. g a “The Liberals changed the apprenticeship system when m I they first came to power and it has been a disaster for TheThe LiberalsLiberals broughtbrought in changeschannges thatthat made it many of the individuals who attempt to move through the program to journeyperson status,” said Lee Loftus, di cult fforor apprapprenticesentices toto completecomplete their training.training. president of the BC Building Trades. “They closed regional YYoungoung people wwantant ttoo get inintonto the trtradesades and jobs offices, got rid of trades counsellors, cut funding to pro - araree wwaiting.aiting. A change in governmentgovernment means a grams and removed labour reps from the ITA board, and with those changes we saw completion rates drop to the chancchancee ttoo ccorrectorrect prproblemsoblems with tradestrades trtrainingaining and mid-30 percentage-wise.” apprapprenticeships.enticeships. By comparison, Sigurdson said apprentices in the unionized sector have a completion rate of 90%. The BC Building Trades wants the next government to commit to changing the structure of the ITA and address - ing the problems faced by people trying to enter the trades, said Sigurdson.

14 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 president’s view By Lee LoFtus

BCYT-BCTC President, Business Manager Insulators Local 118

MYTH BUSTING: Who’s best for the economy, families and construction jobs?

ask yourself obtained by the Canadian Press have Closing schools, offloading costs This election , one ques - since revealed that B.C.’s Ministry of onto school boards and laying off tion: Am I better off today than I was Finance contacted the federal govern - teachers doesn’t sound family friendly 12 years ago? ment just three days after the May to me. Think of your job security, your chil - 2009 election requesting information If the current government wants to dren’s tuition, your experience with the on the HST. be a friend to my family, why is it healthcare system and MSP premiums, During the last election, the current standing on the sidelines while hun - and your retirement security. Think government said the deficit would not dreds of temporary foreign workers are about your wages. Are your pay exceed $495 million. After the dust had being brought into B.C. and taking cheques going as far as they used to? settled on the election, taxpayers were our jobs? If you’re like me, this question will faced with a $2.8 billion shortfall. What this government is really lead you to one conclusion. It’s time for This election is shaping up to be no promising is the status quo. That a change. different. The current government is means temporary foreign workers will The current government has been in claiming a balanced budget, but using continue to take construction jobs, power for 12 years. There’s a lot of some creative mathematics to get there apprentices will continue to be left water under that bridge. Construction by relying on over $800 million in pub - behind in the system, building trades workers have faced attacks on all sides lic asset sales and projecting a $545 mil - members will continue to be shut out from cuts to workers’ compensation, lion profit from B.C. Hydro, despite an of work on major government projects, draconian changes to the Labour Code auditor general report criticising them and real wages will continue to decline and the dismantling of skills training. for creating “the appearance of prof - in the face of inflation. The current government is spending itability where none actually exists.” This election, spend a little time look - over $15 million on taxpayer-funded There’s a saying: If they fool you ing back on the past decade and spend advertisements aimed at rewriting his - once, shame on them. If they fool you a little time looking forward. tory and making promises about the twice, shame on you. This election is about who we can future. The government has elected a new trust to deliver quality jobs for working We can’t trust what we are hearing. leader and is counting on her to recast families. It’s about honesty in govern - During elections, promises flow easily them as a friend to children and fami - ment and it’s about a real commitment from politicians’ lips. At the end of the lies. Yet, British Columbians have not to balance and fairness when it comes day, actions speak louder than words. forgotten that Christy Clark oversaw to our families, treatment of labour, During the last election, voters were the closure of 177 schools across the workers’ compensation, trades training told there would be no “harmoniza - province when she was minister of and income security for our retirees. tion” of sales taxes. Yet, documents education. We need a change for the better.

Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tradetalk 15 Time for workers’ rights n o s r e B

a u h s o J

: o t o h P By Joe Barrett Strengthen workers’ compensation The B.C. Liberals have introduced major changes to the The last few years have been tough for construction workers. workers’ compensation system that compromise worker The B.C. Liberals have taken aim at everything from workers’ health, safety and financial stability. Over the last decade, compensation and project labour agreements to trades train - the Liberals have approved deep cuts in employer premi - ing, compulsory certification and fair wages. The govern - ums that have deprived the board of millions and reduced ment has done everything in its power to lower the stan - workplace safety regulations and benefits for injured work - dards of our crafts and put building trades members out of ers. They have also reduced workers’ disability awards, work. It’s been an employer’s world for too long. eliminated functional pensions at age 65, cut the number of levels of appeal for injured workers from three to two Wages aren’t keeping up and eliminated the medical review panel. It’s time to bring The drive for lower and lower bids has shackled many some balance back and ensure that injured workers receive building trades employers. Ruthless low-ball bidding freezes the support they’re entitled to. out legitimate contractors. In other cases, allegations of bid rigging are commonplace. These things are to be expected in Anti-worker legislation has to be reversed an industry where government has no long-term plan for Most importantly, the NDP has promised to bring back creating a strong economy. fair labour relations by taking the politics out of the Labour In order to cope, many workers have taken on extra per - Relations Board. It’s vital that the appointment of vice- sonal debt. Record low interest rates have encouraged more chairs and their decisions are free from political interfer - bank loans and credit card debt. Statistics Canada reports ence and pressure. The board must be provided with ade - that personal debt is growing faster than wages and income. quate resources to do its job. Backlogs and stalling tactics On average, Canadians now owe $1.65 for every after-tax have been delaying decisions. Timely response is essential dollar they earn. to industry stability.

16 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 Changes to the Labour Code, such as card-check certifi - Clive Andree cation, will be one of the most important amendments to Labourer balanced labour law. Ever since the code was changed 12 CSWU Local 1611 years ago to require two certification votes, employers have taken advantage of the many opportunities to derail orga - Hopefully the NDP gets nization drives. in and we see more Employers have padded voters list with supervisors and union work for the others who do not share a common interest with the work - trades. Let’s get higher ers. In the two-week campaign before the vote, workers are wages for people in the often required to attend meetings where some employers t“rades. have resorted to veiled threats or sweetener bonuses. Many have taken advantage of anything that persuades workers to reject the union. Photo Michael Brophy Workers should decide who represents them ” A growing challenge for B.C. workers has been the spread of employer-friendly labour associations. It’s now common for employers to inoculate themselves against legitimate unions by seeking out these employer-friendly associations “I’ve worked a split shift of and having agreements signed by a skeleton crew. Once 14 hours, but I never got my work gets under way, the rest of the crew members are stuck with an inferior agreement. Moving over to a legiti - breaks and I won’t mate union is a huge undertaking fraught with challenges. get overtime.” The set campaign period is fixed to coincide with compa - nies’ slack periods. This is when the fewest employees are on site. Employers are able to assemble crews that are most likely to ward off an organizing attempt from a better union. Fairness needed in employment standards Changes to employment standards legislation and staff cuts at the Employment Standards Branch have allowed the worst employers to get away with flagrant abuses such as r e h

unpaid wages, no overtime premiums and unpaid statutory c t a holidays. The only recourse for workers is to fill out a r B

z multi-page self-help kit and submit it to the branch. But the u L

y b

branch’s mandate has changed so that it no longer investi - e g

gates complaints, it only accepts and reviews them. a m Bring back compulsory trade certifications I Getting rid of compulsory trade certification require - TheThe LiberalsLiberals broughtbrought in changeschanges thathatt alloalloww employersemployers ments was another loss for journey level workers. Alberta toto averageaverage overtimeovertime workwork overover severalseveral weeksweeks so thatthat requires compulsory certification in 21 trades. The B.C. workersworkers dondon’t’t rreceivedeceived oovertimeverrtime papay.y. A change in Industry Training Authority has none! Certification ensures governmentgovernment means a chancechancce ttoo ccorrectorrect prproblemsoblems with quality work, improved safety, better pay for construction workers, consumer protection and more incentive for peo - employmentemployment standards.standards. ple to enter the trades. Change is in the air. Bringing back balance and fairness will go a long way towards building a strong economy with broad prosperity and a better future for everyone. c i h p a r g

m a L

e s o J

Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tradetalk 17 “It's all about the money.” The onus for safety has been turned onto workers and compensation has n o s r been drastically e B a

u reduced. h s o J

: o t o h P

WorkSafeBC Heartless business model has to end By Michel Drouin responsibility to workplace safety. They received over a bil - If you are a painter and you lose both arms and both legs, lion dollars in benefits because those blood-riddled regula - but you still have your head, you are employable and not eli - tions disappeared and benefits no longer had to be paid.” gible for a loss of earnings pension according to WorkSafeBC. Construction sector employers are proud of what they That is just one of the changes to workers’ compensation in have achieved, Loftus added. B.C. since the provincial Liberals were first elected in 2001. The Council of Construction Associates lobbied the Liber - The Liberal government’s impact on worker safety and als for changes to compensation legislation and its members benefits to the injured has been dramatic and severe, said have seen great gains. The association gleefully listed the Lee Loftus, president of the BC Building Trades Council. changes to safety regulations and changes to WorkSafeBC in “Workplaces became less safe and we saw those who got its 2010 annual report. injured receive less support, medical assistance and compen - Under a long list of accumulated savings from 1992 to sation for days lost. Appeal processes have become increas - 2010, COCA announced that it had saved $500 million in ingly technical, difficult to understand and access.” that period through WorkSafeBC changes to scaffold regula - Regulations that only came about because of workplace tions, fatal benefit calculations, traffic control personnel reg - injuries and deaths were slashed because they were declared ulation changes, young worker changes and other amend - “red tape” by the employers and the Liberals, Loftus said. ments in the employers’ favour. “Employers are reaping the rewards of giving up their “It means a less safe workplace,” said Loftus. “People are

18 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 going to die, but employers will save money.” Some note that there was a 22% drop in injury rates. But what it really means is that fewer claims were accepted, said ¸;OLYL»ZHULHYS`J\[VMMMVYKPZHIPSP[` Loftus. WLUZPVUZ0[KVLZU»[ZLLTMHPY¹ Some employers are sending injured employees to private medical companies to accelerate medical treatment. The downside is that some workers are returning to work before they’ve recovered. ;OL3PILYHSZJH]LK Employers support WorkSafeBC’s campaign to turn more PU[VLTWSV`LYZ» of the responsibility for maintaining safety onto workers. The problem is that employees are in a subservient position KLTHUKZ[V and it takes great courage to refuse unsafe work. YLLK\JL^VYRLYZ»K\JL^VYRLYZ» Loftus said, “It’s all about the money. Tying off and JVTWLUZH[PVU putting up scaffolding costs money. But when someone gets ;OLLSPTPUH[PVUVM hurt, the employer can say the worker should be prosecuted because the bastard should have known better.” KPZHIPSP[`WLUZPVUZ Prior to the Liberals winning power in B.C. in 2001, the ^OLU^VYRLYZ injured used to get 75% of their gross income in compensa - YLLHJOHNLPZHJOHNLPZ tion. Now WorkSafeBC only looks at net income and this VULVM[OLT(SS has resulted in a reduction of 13%. As a result, on average, injured workers receive $179 a week less. ZH]PUNZOH]LILLU Permanently injured workers used to receive a lifetime WHZZLKHSVUN[V pension and an award for loss of function. Now the pension LTWSV`LYZ(JOHUNLLTWSV`LYZ (JOHUNL disappears at 65 and the loss of function compensation has PPUNV]LYUNV]LYUUTLU[TLU[ been reduced. “If you are capable of any employment at all, there isn’t TLHUZHJOHUJL[V any pension,” Loftus pointed out, hence the example at the JJVYYVYYLLJ[WYJ[WYVVISLTZISLTZ top of this article. “They moved from a compassionate, car - ^P[O^VYRLYZ» ing model to a hardcore insurance model,” he said. “They introduced an early return to work with modified duties. JVTWLUZH[PVU “That’s an oxymoron. You can’t return to heavy construction work at light duties. You can’t return to a low-bid plumbing job on light duties. You can’t be a cement finisher with a modified work assignment.” There is no place in construc - tion bids to support these concepts, he added. Loftus has met with members of the provincial NDP and has provided all the reports from the labour movement since 2001. The NDP is “clearly supportive of strengthening work - place regulations but I’m doubtful they’ll ever be able to return to pension or compensation benefits as they were pre- 2001,” he said. “They can’t go back to the percentage of gross income. They can’t unring the bell and that is really sad. “The changes were so substantial that the structure has changed. It would take decades to get it back to what it was. The mechanics of returning to 75% of gross wages to injured workers would create a political nightmare. It’s funny that the NDP couldn’t get away with it politically, but the Liber - als were rewarded for taking it all apart.” The most compensation a severely injured construction worker can expect to receive is $58,000 a year. There is no compensation for chronic pain. And as far as WorkSafeBC is concerned, stress doesn’t exist, he added. If a worker witnesses a fellow employee hor - ribly killed on the job there is no compensation. The changes that the Liberals brought in have really paid off. WorkSafeBC has secured substantial surpluses in the accident fund. Adding salt to the wound is the fact that every time a surplus is accumulated it is given back to the employers in either an assessment holiday or assessment reduction. Loftus said that money should have gone to rehabilitation services, better compensation benefits, more workplace inspections, better training for adjudication staff, the open - ing of community WorkSafe offices, research into occupa - tional diseases and better regulations. “Those of us who advocate for injured workers see the impact on their families and their lives destroyed, some - times through suicide. That’s how I will remember the Liber - als’ legacy on workers’ compensation, health and safety.”

Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tradetalk 19 It’s time for workers to show the BC Liberals the door

By Merrill O’Donnell on the end of the line is usually in a BCBT Workers’ Advocate battle with a belligerent beast called the Workers’ Compensation Board. As the BC Building Trades workers’ Given these lamentable circum - advocate, I get many phone calls stances, if I, from force of habit, throughout the day from electri - were to ask how they were (and I cians, ironworkers, cement masons, sometimes do), the response is, to bricklayers and other unionized con - put it mildly, unconventional and Adam Cormier struction workers who I’m proud to certainly not printable! Electrician apprentice represent. Before I get into the meat So I skip the common niceties, IBEW Local 213 of the conversation, I’m naturally fast forward to their WCB problems, inclined to ask the most common of and look for other opportunities to It’s time for a more labour-friendly questions, namely, “How are you”? say something supportive and ulti - government. People are working This seemingly harmless question is, mately constructive. Strangely harder and not getting ahead. We however, the last question I should enough, with the May 14 election also need to get our schools and ask the workers who contact me. just around the bend, more and “hospitals running properly again. There are two reasons. First, the more opportunities have sponta - I’m glad that Christy Clark finally workers who contact me have usual - neously arisen to do just that. raised the minimum wage, but ly been badly injured, are in severe My strategy, after listening to a that’s just not enough. We need pain, financially strapped, deeply litany of rightful complaints about more better paying jobs and more frustrated and in a bit of a rage the compensation system, is to take rights for people. Photo Joshua Berson because they’re not working at their a few moments to speak with them ” beloved trade. Secondly, the worker about the wide-sweeping changes

20 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 the BC Liberals brought in about 10 disability pensions to workers for years ago at the behest of the busi - life, instead of cutting them off at ness community. I tell them about age 65 as the BC Liberals have the changes to the Workers Com - done? pensation Act, to the board’s struc - • Do you support spearheading a ture and to its voluminous policies comprehensive review to increase and practice directives that have pensions and loss of earnings saved businesses millions of dollars calculations? and cost workers dearly. I tell them • Do you support workers and the that the BC Federation of Labour, labour organizations that represent regional labour councils and their them being integral to the process own BC Building Trades have been of developing occupational health working tirelessly to reverse these and safety regulations? changes to make the system more • Do you support re-establishing equitable. And I tell them that the equity on the WCB Board of Direc - changes we need have been commu - tors to counter the business cul - nicated to the highest levels of the ture that has permeated the board New Democratic Party which could since the BC Liberals came to form the next provincial power? government. • Do you support the comprehen - Todd Harper So if you think the WCB system is sive proposals with respect to leg - Electrician apprentice broken—and it certainly is—on May islative, regulatory and policy IBEW Local 213 14 you have an opportunity to do amendments brought forward by something about it. To start with, the BC Federation of Labour, the We need to get the NDP back. The find out what your local candidate’s regional labour councils and the Liberals aren’t straightforward on opinions are on fixing the WCB. British Columbia Building Trades? anything, and just want to make the Here are several questions you could If the candidate says his or her rich richer. The HST is a perfect ask: party supports many, if not all, of example. It made everyone pay more • Do you support tying injured these proposals, I suspect you will be “so big business could pay less. People workers' wage-loss benefits to at speaking to the BC NDP. It’s certain - are getting poorer because they have least 75% of gross income, instead ly hard to think that you would be less money to spend. And if people of 90% of net? speaking with the BC Liberal candi - can’t spend, people can’t work. We • Do you support re-establishing the date since it was the Liberal govern - need to keep people working. The dual system to provide for loss of ment that created the inequitable, NDP does that better. earnings pensions? anti-worker, pro-employer WCB sys - Photo Joshua Berson • Do you support paying permanent tem we have today. ”

Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tradetalk 21 First, they came for the electricians By Claudia Ferris

B.C. has endured a decade of trades training mismanagement by the Lib - eral government. Trades apprentice - ship completion rates are down to 37% and electrical instructors from public trades training institutions have rolled out a campaign to pro - tect interprovincial Canadian Red Seal standards. The fight to stop yet another dam - aging Liberal privatization scheme

began when the semi-privatized BC s i r r

Safety Authority (BCSA) agreed to e F

hand its authority to issue electrical a i d

work certifications to a fully private u a l

sector accreditation process. Trades C

: o

training instructor representatives t o on the province’s Electrical Articula - h tion Committee took issue with this P decision because it undermines the (Clockwise) Ted Simmons (BCIT's Electrical Trades Program), Shane Simpson (NDP Red Seal apprenticeship training pro - labour critic), Gwen O'Mahony (NDP critic for skills training) and Phil Venoit (IBEW gram that they deliver through the Provincial Council) discuss the importance of protecting interprovincial Canadian Red Industry Training Authority Seal standards. (ITA). Their petition, hosted at Pro - tectRedSealTrades.ca, has gathered BC Safety Authority signed off on sor of apprenticeships in the support from more than a thousand Electrical Work Practitioners (EWP) province, with approximately 1,000 electrical workers and contractors certifications without consulting registered Red Seal apprentices. throughout the province. stakeholders or providing a scope of Venoit and Simmons met with Ted Simmons is the chief instructor training overview.” Instructors, NDP critics to discuss the fixes for a for BCIT’s Electrical Trades Program, unions and electrical contractors decade of dysfunction in B.C.’s trade an active member of the Electrical have determined that “the semi- apprenticeships. They delivered a Articulation Committee and the for - skilled workers that the EWP certifica - number of recommendations: mer chair of the BC Safety Authority’s tions will produce are going to have a • Re-hire counsellors to guide Electrical Technology Advisory Com - negative impact on safety,” he said. apprentices through the adminis - mittee. According to Simmons, “The Simmons said apprenticeships, and tration of their apprenticeship. the campaign to protect them, have • Maintain “designated” or “compul - support throughout the electrical sory” certified craft trade status to industry. “Electrical contractors want ensure that customers and clients to know the job is going to be done get the best product available. right, without lawsuits, liabilities and • Reverse the BCSA initiative to cir - responsibility for someone getting cumvent the Industry Training hurt.” Authority’s mandate to oversee Phil Venoit, chair of the Interna - and support apprentices in B.C. tional Brotherhood of Electrical • Stop encouraging fragmented cre - Workers (IBEW) Provincial Council, dentials which result in lower stan - has been central in the fight to stop dards, reduced consumer protec - the downgrading of electrical train - tion and compromised worker and ing. Venoit said, “My biggest fear is public safety. that the EWP will become the Leaky Electrical workers are looking for Condo [crisis] of the next decade, support and solidarity on this issue with the exception that condo’s will before and after the provincial elec - not be leaking. Owners will actually tion. Venoit’s message to others in be praying for rain, to put out the the building trades: “I would strong - fires.” ly urge all tradespeople to go to Braden Randall Venoit is clear. “You can’t solve a www.protectredsealtrades.ca and sign Crane apprentice skilled trades shortage with semi- our petition to stop this public trav - Operating Engineer Local 115 skilled workers.” esty, to protect them on the job and Trade union staff and trades train - as consumers and to protect their I’m looking for a government that ing instructors throughout the work. If the BC Safety Authority is agrees with what I believe in. And province picked up responsibility for successful at devaluing electrical that’s people’s rights. I think the NDP the administrative shortfall created work and allowing for semi-skilled is for unions. I’m in a union and I when the Liberals eliminated 120 workers in one trade, they will be “think unions are great. apprenticeship counsellors from the looking at all other trades to cut, Photo Claudia Ferris system. The IBEW is the biggest spon - carve and modularize.” 22 tradetalk BC BU”ILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 view From ottawa By BoB BLakeLy Director of Canadian Affairs, Canadian Office, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO

Politics 101 “I don’t need you to tell me…”

MOST OF US FIND IT INSULTING TO showed up, who made the difference. political issue. If they do, it is likely have somebody think that they can The decision to vote or not vote is a because you are the person running impose their will on us or do our personal one. With the number of for office! The party platforms do not thinking for us; especially when it ways there are to exercise your vote, speak for themselves. The platforms comes to the exercise of our voting beyond simply showing up on polling are available and are something you franchise. Telling someone how to day and getting in line, there is no ought to research. vote suggests that the other person’s excuse for failing to vote. Failing to Ask yourself this question, if the judgment is somehow suspect. After vote means you are removing your platforms speak for themselves, why all, we all have political opinions. support from all of the candidates. do political parties advertise? They For most of us our political leanings A number of us pride ourselves on advertise because they hope to sell you were impressed on us when we were not voting for a party, but rather in something. No advertising campaign, kids and (as frightening as this may voting for the best man or woman in however slick, allows you to under - seem) our political views will resemble the race. This choice assumes that the stand what a political party really that of our parents. Others amongst us person running in your riding with stands for. had some sort of significant political the qualities that you most admire There is a side issue in respect of event occur in our lives—we were (wit, knowledge, commitment, integri - political platforms and that is the sin - touched by something a politician said ty, leadership, moral courage or a host gle-issue candidate. The single-issue or did and that has formed the basis of of others) is the person that you want candidate is an advocate for some our support/non-support for various as your representative. Is this always emotive policy, abortion, the gun reg - political groups. the wisest thing to do? The short istry or what have you. If you vote for How we vote matters! It isn’t every answer is unless you are voting for an the single-issue candidate because you election that turns on a single vote independent, any candidate running agree with him or her on that one but in any close election, your deci - on behalf of a registered political party issue, you are actually buying a bundle sion to vote (or to not vote) may is hamstrung with the platform and of other things that that person stands make a very significant impact on policies of that political party. Even for. In all likelihood, they have no who actually is the first passed the the most honourable, wisest and most ability to delivery on their single post. In a number of elections held courageous, when elected on behalf of promise, but for the next four years, if recently in various provinces and fed - the political party, is stuck with the they’re elected, you get all that that erally, it has been the failure of some party line. Like individual candidates, person stands for. Wouldn’t it be groups of people to show up and vote each political party is a bundle of poli - worthwhile to see what that is before or alternatively people who had sat cies. No political party (and no candi - you waste your vote. If the only thing on the sidelines for a long time who date) will ever agree with you on every continued on next page

Administration IRONWORKERS LOCAL 97 Ph: 604-879-4191, Fax: 604-879-1110 6891 MacPherson Avenue, Burnaby, BC V5J 4N2 Toll Free Number 1-866-562-2597 [email protected] Building BC and the Yukon Territory Business Manager for over 106 years JamesLeland President Secure your CecilDamery Family’s Future RS MEMOR Business Agent IRON WORKE IAL BRIDGE with Excellent LaurenceBaker Pension and Apprenticeship and Trade Improvement Health & Ph: 604-874-6010 DerekDinzey Welfare Benefits Co-ordinator

Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tradetalk 23 continued from previous page election is going to be a watershed election. If you examine the sweeping changes that have taken place in British you agree with is the one issue, you may be electing some - Columbia’s apprenticeship system, in how construction body who is diametrically opposed to you and your interests labour relations is done, the effect that it has had on your in all other respects. ability to command the sort of wage that your skill should So what I am advocating is that you take an hour or so out command in the marketplace, and the ability of partially of your schedule and go on the internet and download the skilled people to chip away at your market share (which party platforms of the people who are running in the next directly relates to how much money you make), you can eas - BC general election and examine them. Heck, even if all ily see where your interests lie. Make your choice, but make you read is the executive summary, it gives you an idea that choice an informed and conscious choice! about what they are selling. Likely, your local union will do some sort of analysis, some comparison of the party plat - forms. Read that. If you are like me, the first and second Bruce Ferguson things I read in the newspaper every morning are the comics Retired president and then the sports section. Once I finish that, I read materi - CSWU Local 1611 al that is on the editorial page. I read what some of the brighter columnists have to say and I contrast that with my The next government has to own beliefs. This sort of thing is simply doing an analysis of take care of the fundamentals: what the people who are asking for our support in their education and healthcare. quest for power are going to do when they get it. It is worth They’re important to everyone the investment of a couple of hours because you are going to regardless of your political out - be ruled by the winning political party for at least the next l“ook. We turn the news on and four years and probably beyond. we see areas of the province I believe the forthcoming British Columbia general that haven’t received a fair shake.

s Wake up, smell the coffee. We u

b get one chance in four years so o c a J

let’s get it right this time. We’ve l l i B suffered enough under these y b

e bandits currently in office. They’ve run out of ideas, they’re g a morally bankrupt, and they’re using taxpayers money to try m I to get their people in. It’s going to be a hard fought elec - tion. Get out there and vote. Certainly that’s what I’ll be encouraging our members to do. Pho”to Michael Brophy

“We’re under so much pressure on this job, I just know someone’s going to get hurt.”

BowingBowingi ttoo emploemployerl yer prpressure,esssure, theh LiberLibLiberalsalsl initiallyi i i ll eliminatedeliminated 1/3 of all safsafetyfetetty rregulations.egulations. EEveryvery regulationregulation came as a resultresuult of a worker’sworker’s injurinjuryy or death.death. IIt’st’s been a ghghtt ttoo get a ffewew of them backback.. A change in governmentgovernment means wwee can ccorrectorrect problemsproblems with safsafetyfetety standards.stanndards.

24 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tradetalk 25 The connection between bad labour legislation and benefit plans

By Claudia Ferris top of the 6% increase in 2012. Private sector union plans If you feel like you are being nickeled and dimed each year are taking direct hits every year, challenging the long-term by the B.C. Liberal government, you’re right. For 10 years, visions of even the most skilled union plan administrators. the Liberals have been steadily offloading costs onto work - “Our benefit and pension plans are fully funded, but ing people—a trend that needs reversing before the damage uncertainty about our future keeps me awake at night,” becomes irreparable, according to Lionel Railton, who said Railton. administered the Operating Engineers Local 115’s benefit The constant chipping away at benefits by the current and pension plans for a dozen years. provincial government has members turning to their unions We are in for a 4% hike in MSP premiums this year on for help. Railton is happy that Local 115 has been able to absorb all the direct cuts so far, but he knows they can only draw on their carefully cultivated surpluses for so long. “The government’s mandate of offloading costs onto the private sector is hurting the families it purports to put first. Their so-called family first agenda is clearly not legitimate. It is not playing out at the ground level.” “Our company only Benefit plan trustees have been hearing from families sup - oers small RRSPs, porting disabled young adults who have had 60% of their services cut. Public plans no longer cover rehabilitation or but I want a pension. massages to help dependants with physical disabilities I don’t want to have remain mobile. The government de-listed services designed to keep people well or cope with chronic conditions, such to work all my life.” as chiropractic care, naturopathy, specialized acupuncture and massage therapy. Railton is concerned about the double-digit inflation for drug costs. “Trying to stay in step with these direct cost increases is a challenge and it is only going to get worse if they are allowed to continue.” Darcy Biln, the administrator of IBEW Local 213’s benefit plan, agrees. “The BC Liberals doubled MSP premiums and then increased them another 25% over the past five years.” So far, the Electrical Workers’ benefit plan has remained sta - n

o ble because the local’s 4,200 members have had increased d r u

o work. Y

d

E Plan administrators such as Biln know that they will not

y b be able to absorb fee increases forever. “MSP premiums, at e g

a $3 million per year, are the single biggest cost to our plan.” m I Biln added that current government policies discourage return to work and are counterproductive in the long run. “At a time when the majority of the people in the health The Liberals brought in many changes designed to field are moving toward prevention, and consider that reduce the number of union members. As a result, money well spent, the government is doing the opposite, fewer people have access to pensions, benets and they are taking money away from those who are trying to prevent illness.” fair wages. A change in government means more Biln is concerned about the lack of funding for preven - people will have an opportunity to enjoy union tion and rehabilitation services because he knows that if representation. you don’t deal with injuries early on, you can create huge costs to the medical system. He wants a government that can make prevention a real priority. “The most blatant example of bad BC Liberal policy is cuts to coverage of chi - ropractic and therapeutic message, which are services that get people back to work.”

26 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 An inadequate Labour Code, poorly enforced employment standards and organizing obstacles have led, pre - dictably, to less union work. This means there is an overall reduction in benefit and pension plan contribu - tions. Cuts to WorkSafeBC’s reduced rehabilitation services make it more difficult to get injured workers back on the job. Railton explained that stable union plans are financed by long-term labour agreements and will be utterly undermined if employers are allowed to walk away from their pension obligations. “People have worked long and hard to make sure they can retire and our plans allow them to do that. Our pension plan provides a dignified retirement, with $44 mil - Artur Viana Tim Bragg lion per year going back into the Labourer Senior Charge Hand economy of B.C.” CSWU Local 1611 Electrical Workers Local 230 He said he tells people that it is not too late to turn the clock back to bet - I hope the NDP gets in. I think there I would like to see us stop sending ter times. “Most plans are well man - will be more work and more unions. work out of country. Jobs need to be aged and financed and can weather The more people in unions, the bet - done locally by qualified workers. short financial storms, but not indefi - ter. To anyone not in a union, I Politicians seem to forget that if it nitely. We clearly need a more “would ask them, “Why don’t you wasn’t for the working class, we favourable government that is capa - join? Union people live better.” “wouldn’t have any money to run the ble of recognizing that people have country. We recently purchased ferries Photo Michael Brophy made large investments with their from a shipyard subsidized by the labour and their benefits. They German government, so why would - deserve a government that can under - n’t we subsidize jobs here and make a stand and respect the order of magni - ” bigger local tax base? tude that these plans play in the provincial economy.” ” Photo Claudia Ferris

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Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tradetalk 27 Temporary Foreign Worker Program Building trades unions build on series of legal victories

By Michel Drouin were not, as the company claimed, The BC Building Trades’ legal battle unqualified. Numerous candidates over HD Mining’s decision to bypass were trained and certified under - qualified Canadian miners to bring in ground miners with years of relevant 201 miners from China to work at its experience. Murray River coalmine is steadily BC Building Trades President Lee progressing from one victory to Loftus told Tradetalk that, with the another. But the issue of companies judicial review proceeding, an bringing foreign workers into Canada onslaught of previously unavailable Chris Feller to undercut Canadian jobs in the ser - information is pouring in about the Business Manager vice and construction sectors foreign worker program. Operative Plasterers and Cement remains. “It allows us to seek disclosure of Masons Union Local 919 Recently, the Vancouver Sun information that was not given to us reported that the company that owns up to this point,” he said. “The evi - My main concern is that people do Denny’s restaurants in B.C. was dence we are gathering confirms our not become complacent about going ordered to pay a $1.3 million settle - position. We will be able to say that out to vote. The media has now shift - ment to 77 temporary foreign work - the process and protocols for estab - ed and are basically calling for a ers who were denied overtime, never lishing Labour Market Opinions and blow-out. I’m afraid that a lot of peo - reimbursed for their airfare and foreign worker permits were pretty “ple are going to stay home on voting required to pay employment agencies much ignored and rubber-stamped day and not do their due diligence. $6,000 on average to secure their rather than investigated…We also Things have become too slanted. jobs. In addition to the settlement, think the courts will pay attention to They’re always catering to big busi - the company paid the workers’ legal what has taken place and affirm that ness but it’s time they listen to labour fees and the cost of administering the there was not a work shortage for because we are the ones paying the settlement and donated $80,000 to those classifications – that employed bills and we have got to get some relevant charities. Charles Gordon, Canadians are available.” balance back. the lawyer representing the workers, Loftus said that the council Photo Michael Brophy is also representing the building believes that the judicial review is far trades unions. The class action suit reaching and that it will make indus - was filed more than two years ago. try, government and employers ” Knowing how HD Mining got fed - account for their actions when they eral government approval to allow say there is not a skilled workforce to foreign workers into Canada came do the work. “Hopefully it’ll con - one step closer with a court decision vince our employers to reengage in on March 1 granting the unions (the training and not just leave it for the Operating Engineers Local 115 and unions to do.” Labourers Local 1611) the right to Minister of Human Resources pursue a judicial review of the Diane Finely has also made a public process. statement that the foreign worker The mining company applied for permit system is not working and has permits last year to bring in the min - initiated a review. However, Loftus ers claiming that there were no Cana - said he’s concerned that the federal dians experienced in long-wall min - review will be Ottawa-centred, with - ing, the type of underground mining out participation from the industry, it planned to use at its mine near and that it will not be transparent. Tumbler Ridge. The unions later dis - The Operating Engineers union has covered that the company was actual - launched a website to draw attention ly using the common room and pillar to the unions’ efforts to shed light on Mike Lehtonen technique. the Temporary Foreign Worker Pro - Cement Mason An analysis of the resumes turned gram and receive public donations to Operative Plasterers’ and Cement over by HD Mining revealed that cover legal and campaign costs. Visit Masons’ Local Union 919 many of the 315 Canadian applicants www.labourspeaksout.com Safety on job sites and more fairness across the market are the big issues. We need to get rid of the tailgate Timeline, Take our poll, Like to help? warranty kind of companies and have Follow the BC Building Trades campaign calling for an independent review of more union people and more union the federal government’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program “companies. www.labourspeaksout.com Photo Michael Brophy 28 tradetalk BC BUILDING” TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013 do something worthwhile and save money!

save money on new and used building materials. habitat for humanity has Asbestos awareness 2 stores to serve you. Walk for Truth in Powell River 2475 douglas rd., burnaby The second annual Walk for Truth— jects. Thanks to the generosity of (604-293-1898) Asbestos Kills will be held in Powell donors, the AREA Fund has already 69 West 69th ave, Vancouver River (the number one hotspot for been able to provide financial assis - (604-326-3055) asbestosis in B.C.) on Saturday, tance for five projects, including the June 22. Right to Know campaign aimed at It is being organized by the reducing cancer incidents by educat - 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Asbestos-related Research, Education ing B.C. workers about the hazards of monday to saturday & Advocacy Fund (AREA Fund), a asbestos. grassroots charity started in B.C. by Last year, the AREA Fund hosted its the Ford family after Dave Ford, an first annual Walk for Truth event. electrician, died of mesothelioma in “The walk was a huge success,” 2008. according to Tracy Ford (daughter of During his battle with this disease, Dave), and this year’s event is expect - the family found both the medical ed to be even bigger. system and compensation systems ill- There will be a continuing education equipped to deal with his disease. session for medical professionals, a After Dave’s death, the family learned book reading/signing with Canadian that asbestos-related diseases are the author Jim Williams for his award-win - number one occupational killer in ning novel Rock Reject, set in a B.C. B.C. and right across Canada, which asbestos mining town, and fire fighters made them wonder why more wasn’t and Sparky will attend for a photo op being done to improve the situation with the kids. The fee is $10 per per - for victims and to protect people from son (kids 12 and under participate for Labour & asbestos exposure. free) and there will be a by-donation Asbestos is odourless, tasteless and hotdog barbeque after the walk. United Way invisible, and sadly it was used in “We believe the Walk for Truth thousands of building products for event will be the single most impor - Change starts here. decades, which means that it’s still all tant thing the AREA Fund will do this around us, even if we’re not aware of year,” Ford said. “We want everyone it. It’s in our homes, our schools, our to become aware of the hazards of Labour and United Way hospitals—our lives. asbestos so that exposure to it can be work in partnership to The family wanted to do something avoided. All asbestos is carcinogenic strengthen our community positive in Dave’s memory and and there are no known cures for the improve the situation for others, so it diseases that asbestos creates.” Knowl - for all workers and their created a registered charitable fund in edge and avoidance are the only families. 2010 to support asbestos-related answers. Visit www.areafund.ca or research, education and advocacy pro - www.facebook.com/2013WalkForTruth Give. Volunteer. Act.

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m a L

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Special Election Issue 2013 / BC BUILDING TRADES tradetalk 29 continued from page 4 Politics is not a spectator sport. It requires a team effort.We Re-instating compulsory trades certification!!! must remain in solidarity! Like how ridiculous is that.. Adam Van Steinburg Lol Assistant Business Manager, Keep singing Christy...... IBEW Local 213 Then we can call it over!!!! Shelton Alphonse A prose approach to election issues Sheet Metal Workers Local 276 To the editor, A litany of charges My true feelings about provincial elections are exciting! The fact that the process is true and To the editor, Democratic are motivating. I started late in this campaign. The constituency organizers The flip side to it is..... welcome any time anyone can spare. Who is going to say what to gain an advantage going into I hope voters say “Enough!” to economic experimenting the polls. with our lives and livelihoods. Tax breaks didn’t lead to Traditionally anything will be said, investing. Selling resources, especially offshore, didn’t create Not a whole lot of accountability jobs. Meltdowns dunked those ideas. Assigned to that. I.e. a leaked document Most voters can pin BC Rail, BC Hydro and BC Ferries to About buying ethnic votes, and the Gordo and Crispy. What do you call a manager who sells a Spin put on that to negate responsibility. profitable operation? Fired and Investigated. But for the BC I believe if you are lying or have been proven to have Libs? Business as usual. participated in illegal Selling Crown corporations pinched funding for services. Actions. Your political career should No other government has sold subsurface rights under Reflect that. Plain and simple. No landowners. Now they’re planning to sell forests. Gutting Reset button. good government doesn’t work. On the same note, if your caucus does The BC Libs closed the legislature from May 31, 2012 until Not support skilled trades ten years ago, and takes apart the Feb. 12, 2013. How does democracy work? trades training I never assume it’s going to be a cakewalk or that it ends Program and compulsory trades certification. after the polls close. Blooming early, the hysterias are cluck - Fast forward to today, where there is definite skilled worker ing “fiscal cliff.” shortage, that Real change starts with us and works its way up. Who’s Creates a low quality product. running in your neighborhood? If you want to chaw over To turn around today and say election issues, drop me a line at [email protected]. “We support skilled trades training” Ron Stewart Then prove it by = IBEW Local 213

Business Manager Jim Paquette Assistant Business Manager Dan Burroughs Business Representative Greg Mooney Business Representative Ken Elworthy

30 tradetalk BC BUILDING TRADES / Special Election Issue 2013

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