Workers, contractors gather at B.C. legislature to protest 'unfair' deals
Credit to Author: The Canadian Press| Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2019 23:14:15 +0000
VICTORIA — Construction workers and independent contractors are at the B.C. legislature demanding the New Democrat government scrap union-friendly public project agreements.
Opposition Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson says the government’s Community Benefits Agreements discriminate against workers who aren’t members of unions with deals to build major public projects.
He says members of the Christian Labour Association, Progressive Contractors Association and the Canada West Union are at the legislature to speak out against the deals that discriminate against workers who aren’t members of favoured unions.
Premier John Horgan says B.C. is enjoying a construction boom where unemployment is the lowest in Canada, and, among the hundreds of project sites across the province, the government has Community Benefits Agreements on three public projects.
He says those projects are the replacement of the Pattullo Bridge in New Westminster, the Broadway SkyTrain line in Vancouver and widening of the Trans-Canada Highway from the Alberta border to Kamloops.
Transportation Minister Claire Trevena says the Community Benefits Agreements include clauses that ensure large numbers of apprentice workers are part of the workforce.