Fighting to Keep BC Fair and Open

Eighty-five percent of construction workers in BC will be shut out of public infrastructure projects thanks to a backroom deal between Premier John Horgan and the NDP-funding Building Trade Unions (BTU).

BC is facing a severe construction labour shortage in coming years. But instead of increasing community benefits and widening the labour pool for public projects, the government is creating unnecessary barriers accessing work.

Why should you care? If you’re a construction worker in BC who does not belong to the BTU, it just got a whole lot more difficult for you to access work on government construction projects. 

Unlike CLAC, the BTU runs a hiring hall. If you decide you’d like to work on public projects, you will be forced to sign up with the BTU.

We are concerned about the restrictive nature of this NDP-BTU deal and that the BC Labour Code is not being followed. We believe it contradicts workers’ right to choose and does not keep public projects truly open to the public. 

Along with 10 other organizations and workers, we have filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against the government to overturn this restrictive policy. We have met with key politicians to discuss our concerns, and we continue to educate other stakeholders on the negative impacts of this policy. We have done and will continue to do this through the media and one-on-one meetings. 

We will keep you informed as we work hard to get this deal reversed, and fight for our valued members to ensure a fair and open BC. BC projects should be open to all British Columbians.