The United Steelworkers union (USW) is condemning the B.C. Conservative Party after it introduced legislation that would undermine Project Labour Agreements and threaten good-paying union jobs across the province – just one day after the party told Steelworkers it supports workers and family-supporting jobs.
Yesterday, USW members met directly with the B.C. Conservative caucus to discuss the urgent need to stabilize and protect the province’s forestry sector and the thousands of workers and communities that depend on it. During that meeting, Conservative MLAs spoke at length about the importance of unionized, good-paying jobs and claimed they were allies of labour who were fighting to protect workers.
The next day, those same Conservatives introduced legislation attacking the very agreements that protect wages, safety standards and opportunities for local workers.
Steelworkers say the move exposes a stunning level of political hypocrisy.
“This is nothing short of a betrayal,” said Mike Duhra, Assistant to the USW Director for Western Canada.
“Conservative MLAs sat across the table from us and told us how much they value good-paying union jobs and strong resource communities. Then they turn around and table legislation that directly attacks those very workers. You can’t claim to stand with labour one day and legislate against them the next,” Duhra said.
Project Labour Agreements and Community Benefit Agreements are widely recognized as proven tools for delivering major infrastructure projects safely, efficiently and with a highly trained local workforce.
For the Conservatives to attempt to ban these agreements while simultaneously claiming to support workers is completely at odds with their rhetoric.
“Workers see through this,” Duhra said. “If you believe in good jobs, safe worksites and strong communities, you don’t introduce legislation designed to weaken the very standards that make those jobs possible. What the Conservatives are proposing would drive down wages, undermine safety and shut out skilled union workers from projects funded by their own tax dollars.”
The USW is joining calls for the B.C. Conservative Party to immediately withdraw this legislation and engage in honest, transparent dialogue with workers and labour organizations about how to strengthen good jobs and build a stable future for British Columbia’s economy.
“British Columbians deserve leadership that stands up for workers,” Duhra added. “If the Conservatives truly believe what they told our members earlier this week, they should scrap this bill today.”
About the United Steelworkers union
The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.
Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the USW because of the union’s strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good wages, benefits and pensions.
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