UA Local 170 strongly opposes a new BC Conservative bill that amounts to an attack on construction workers and the industry as a whole.
The Public Sector Construction Projects Procurement Act, would lower employment standards, harm safety conditions and stop millions in government infrastructure money from flowing into B.C.’s local communities.
Community Benefits Agreements (CBA) and Project Labour Agreements (PLA) were put in place so that local workers and communities would reap the benefits from public infrastructure investments. They are also intended to ensure apprentices develop into our next generation of highly skilled tradespeople and that underrepresented workers are supported in finding their place in the construction industry.
“After reading this bill, I’m not sure if the BC Conservatives really understand what CBAs and PLAs are all about,” said UA Local 170 Business Manager Al Phillips. “Why would you want to get rid of a program that delivers so much benefit to B.C. workers and communities? It’s anti-British Columbian.”
In becoming a member of a BC Building Trades union at the start of their employment on a CBA or PLA project, workers receive industry-leading wages, excellent benefits and safety protections that are all included in their collective agreement.
CBAs and PLAs also guarantee that there will be no labour disruptions for the duration of public infrastructure projects because of language in the collective agreements. This brings certainty to the government, contractors and workers.
Workers have logged more than 7.5 million paid hours on CBA projects. Because 94 per cent of CBA hours have been worked by British Columbians, that means hundreds of millions of dollars in wages have stayed in B.C. communities.
“CBAs and PLAs just make sense,” said Phillips. “If the government is going to invest billions of dollars in building the next generation of infrastructure, that money might as well stay in the pockets of British Columbians who will spend it in their local communities.”
UA Local 170 urges the BC Conservatives to re-consider and withdraw this bill.