Open Shop
B.C.’s Political Future By Philip Hochstein
T
he next B.C. provincial election slated for May 2013 is a source of great concern for many in the construction industry. The B.C. Liberals polling numbers are down the basement and the NDP have the support of almost half of British Columbians. With 23 per cent support in the latest poll, the B.C. Liberals are running neck and neck with the B.C. Conservatives sitting at 22 per cent. Just like 1996 we could see the NDP emerge with a majority thanks to divided support on the centre right of the spectrum. That’s why the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association of B.C. keeps talking about the Liberals and Conservatives needing to make sure the free-enterprise vote isn’t split. But in construction we have to deal with what is likely — not what we hope to come to pass. Let’s just say the Vegas odds on an NDP win in May 2013 would be good. So if the NDP win, what will happen on the construction and labour files? The B.C. NDP have yet to lay out any detailed platform on the issues. But a look east at what’s being wrought by
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construction business
July/August 2012
…the Vegas odds on an NDP win in May 2013 would be good. the building trade union backed governments in Ontario and Manitoba gives a good indication of what a B.C. NDP victory would be like. Both provinces have launched policies and programs tilted heavily in favour of the building trades. Manitoba recently imposed new rules for public sector construction that will require all bidders and subcontractors to be involved in apprenticeship training. The concern is while training is good and we want to enhance trade skills for young workers, it amounts to imposing craft collective agreement terms and conditions on open shop contractors.
Government will stipulate how contractors staff their jobs, impose apprentice-journeymen ratios as restrictive as 1:1, limit the type of work tradesmen are permitted to do, force skilled individuals to go back to apprentice school, and set pay higher-than-market pay rates for everyone on the job site. Government is dictating how you run your company, who you hire, and the work they can do, something it avoids in every other sector of the economy. Manitoba has gone even further than quotas though. Under the Project Labour Agreements, it has shut out open shop contractors and their employees from work on major projects. Unionization — or financial support of the unions — is imposed by the NDP government on companies working on major projects, like the Bipole III hydro transmission line. To get the work you have to either be part of the building trades, or pay the equivalent dues to the union. In total, work on projects worth $20 billion has been funneled to the union movement. ICBA’s sister organization in Manitoba is backing a challenge to these union-friendly