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Canadian Congress Meets in Quebec
Issue 4 - 2009
The most recent Canadian Congress meeting was held in historic Quebec City, in the Province of Quebec, where the delegates received a number of important updates from industry savvy speakers.
2009 Construction Labour Market Outlook
Economist Bob Collins, from Canada’s Construction Sector Council (CSC), presented an overview of the construction labour market. The “big story,” according to Collins, is Canada’s shift from new residential construction to industrial and engineering projects, and with it a greater focus on the need for skilled construction workers, as well as a greater emphasis on project timing and worker mobility. That’s the good news. A more serious shift, according to Collins, is the decline in economic growth in some areas, that is being brought about by several factors, including the weakness in global economic activity, the deep U.S. recession, lower commodity prices, and a drop in household and business confidence. In a look at various regions of the country, Collins projected that all provinces will report slower or negative growth in 2009.
Passage of the 2009 Federal Budget, which includes $7.8 billion in tax relief to jump-start the housing sector and a planned $12 billion-increase in infrastructure spending over the next two years should help, according to Collins.
Collins also reported on the results of a CSC study on the challenges the industry must face to maintain stability, which included labour market support systems such as apprenticeship, health and safety, employment insurance, and industry promotion with youth.
The Contract Maintenance Industry—A Vital Source of BAC Work-Hours
Stephen Smillie, Executive Director of the General Presidents’ Maintenance Committee for Canada and National Maintenance Council for Canada, updated the Congress on the healthy state of the contract maintenance industry in Canada. The year 2008 set another record for hours worked under these agreements, with more than 22 million work-hours reported. The industry now boasts up to 11,000 full time jobs that generate $1 billion in wages and benefits annually.
The conditions necessary to strengthen this important sector, said Smillie, include:
- Greater awareness that maintenance provides valuable work opportunities for BAC members;
- Strong union leadership;
- A skilled, trained and “ready to work” workforce; and
- A united and committed Building Trades.
“The maintenance industry was the forgotten child of the construction industry,” Smillie told delegates, “as it worked away in obscurity providing employment and an option for our members in good times and in bad. As we go through this economic downturn, maintenance will again be where it’s at as construction work diminishes.”
Clamping Down on CLAC
The final speaker to address the Congress delegates was Dr. Hassan Husseini, National Representative in the Political Action and Campaigns Department at the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) in Ottawa. Dr. Husseini, who has been actively working on the CLC’s anti-CLAC (Christian Labour Association of Canada) campaign since 2007, gave an update on the initiative.
In reality, CLAC is an employer-dominated organization, not a legitimate construction industry union, as it asserts, according to Husseini. CLAC operates on a wall-to-wall, rather than on a craft, basis and has been growing rapidly in some areas of Canada. Often CLAC will appear on the scene during a building trades union organizing drive and offer an “alternative” to the employer and employees.
BAC is currently monitoring and attempting to counter CLAC activities.
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