Organizing Bulletin: A Special Message from the Building Trades Council
March 22, 2024
ORGANIZING BULLETIN: A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THE BUILDING TRADES COUNCIL
March 22, 2024
Last week, Manitoba Building Trades affiliates started to hear about labour unrest at the jobsite for the City of Winnipeg’s North End Water Pollution Control Centre (NEWPCC). It’s not news that this project is already behind schedule and over budget, now, it has the additional hurdle of rightfully disgruntled workers. After years of the Christian Labour Alliance of Canada (CLAC) working for the employer and not the workers on site, the workers are looking for change.
The stories we have heard are unfortunate but are typical of job sites under wall-to-wall agreements with a single bargaining unit, like the one CLAC has in place. There is minimal representation on site, workers do not feel heard, trade jurisdiction is often not respected, and the employer has started to implement changes to shifts and overtime rules – without consultation.
The unrest on site has coincided with the time-limited open period of the CLAC agreement, meaning workers can vote to change their representation. When a union has 40% of the workers signed up, they can file with the Labour Board for certification. In the case of displacement from a contract, 45% is required. From there, a certification vote is held and if successful, the new union will take over the current agreement and negotiate with the employer.
As a council of trade unions, we have come together to create a multi-party agreement to offer workers an alternative to CLAC’s wall-to-wall agreement. By working together, we can offer workers on the jobsite real-time on-site representation for their trade, by their trade.
And to all our Carpenter brothers and sisters who have been asked to make the switch from CLAC to UBC National Construction Council Local 1999, just know that this is not the way to a fair deal for everyone. The building trades will ensure that Carpenters have the right representation under our multi-party. We’ve done this before, at projects like Keeyask and the Floodway, we welcomed the participation of Carpenters Local 343 as a respected trade union in the building trades movement. But let me be clear, Local 1999 is not Local 343, and any insinuation otherwise is misrepresentation.
We are stronger as unions when individuals have the right representation and work together, not against each other. Workers deserve a representative that knows the value of their work, because they’ve done your work.
I want to thank the leadership and membership of our participating affiliates, who have come together to fight for fair conditions on the largest project in the City of Winnipeg’s history. There is no more important time or place to showing our collective strength and solidarity than a project in our own backyard. We will not stand silently.
- BOILERMAKERS LOCAL 555
- BRICKLAYERS & ALLIED CRAFTS WORKERS LOCAL 1
- INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS LOCAL 2085
- HEAT & FROST INSULATORS LOCAL 99
- IRONWORKERS, LOCAL 728
- LABOURERS INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA LOCAL 1258
- OPERATING ENGINEERS LOCAL 987
- PAINTERS & ALLIED TRADES DISTRICT COUNCIL 17
- OPERATIVE PLASTERERS AND CEMENT MASONS LOCAL 222
- UNITED ASSOCIATION OF PLUMBING AND PIPEFITTING LOCAL 254
- SHEET METAL WORKERS LOCAL 511
- TEAMSTERS INTERNATIONAL LOCAL 979
Learn more about our organizing efforts see here:
www.buildingtradesorganize.com
In Solidarity,
Tanya Palson
Executive Director
Manitoba Building Trades