Community benefits deal aims to increase local hiring and boost participation of women and Indigenous people, minister says
The community benefits agreement that will govern major provincial construction projects will add four to seven per cent to the price tags, the government said Thursday.
Replacing the Pattullo Bridge in metro Vancouver and four-laning the Trans-Canada Highway east of Kamloops will be undertaken with the new model.
Transportation Minister Claire Trevena said it will eventually cover all transportation projects above a threshold of about $500 million. Other infrastructure work will be considered for inclusion on a case-by-case basis.
A Crown corporation will take over all hiring, and workers must sign up with one of 19 unions affiliated with the B.C.-Yukon Building Trades Council. It is part of a new allied trades entity that is a co-signer of the master agreement.
Workers must join one of the affiliated unions within 30 days of being hired on the worksite and belong for the duration of the project. The agreement includes a no-strike, no-lockout provision and, on the Pattullo project, provides a guaranteed two per cent annual wage increase for the next six years.
The concept was announced this month and the full 336-page master agreement was released Thursday.
An official technical briefing said early estimates are that it will add four to seven per cent to the costs. The government considers that a “slight escalation” but said it will be far outweighed by benefits provided.
The deal prioritizes the hiring of qualified workers who live within 100 kilometres of the job site. It is designed to increase the participation of women, Indigenous people and members of equity-seeking groups.
Mandatory membership in a selected union is designed to smooth the way to increasing the number of apprentices and align wages with prevailing industry rates.
Trevena said it will mean a major investment in B.C.’s future and help deal with skills shortages.
The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association accused the NDP government of selling out taxpayers to unions who donated heavily to the party.
“John Horgan has put the interests of his union donors ahead of what’s best for British Columbians, ahead of fairness, ahead of getting good value for tax dollars, and ahead of what individual workers want,” said Chris Gardner, ICBA president.
One of the provisions is the mandatory deduction from paycheques of 32 cents per person-hour for contributions to several different union funds. Gardner said it’s part of why costs will increase on all new projects.
B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said the NDP declared the Pattullo replacement a provincial project, but the 100-kilometre rule excludes most taxpayers from working on it. “This government wants people from the Okanagan, the North and the Island to pay for this project, but won’t give them a chance to work on it.”
All contractors are free to bid on jobs under the CBA, but their workers must sign up with an affiliated union, regardless of whether they belong to a different union.
Most hiring and payroll functions will be undertaken by B.C. Infrastructure Benefits Inc., the Crown corporation being formed under the deal. It will be the official employer of all workers on the sites.
