News Releases

November 30, 2022 Lisa Flesher, Service Rep, LiUNA! 1611 WHEN LISA FLESHER was 18, she wrote an essay about her life for a high school assignment. She detailed her parents’ breakup, her mom’s descent into drug addiction and sex work, being in and out of foster care...

October 6, 2022 THE OPIOID CRISIS has taken an especially hard toll on the building and construction industry, and it is likely that everyone in the industry knows someone who has been affected by the crisis. “It’s widely acknowledged, and the numbers show, that the...

September 20, 2022 IF YOU ARE A WOMAN in the unionized construction trades and you haven’t checked out your union’s women’s committee, you’re missing out. And if your union doesn’t have a women’s committee, start one! For me, women’s committees are safe spaces where I...

September 12, 2022 JOINING A UNION OPENS the door to a world of better pay, benefits and working conditions. And walking through that door and actually getting involved in union work brings even more possibilities. There are all kinds of ways to participate in union...

August 3, 2022 FOURTH-YEAR MILLWRIGHT apprentice Alaura Jaggernath successfully wrote her Red Seal exam a few months ago, but she’s the first to admit she didn’t do it alone. Her union, Millwrights Local 2736, joined her every step of the way. “I’ve had a lot of...

July 28, 2022 CHANGES TO B.C. LABOUR LAW are taking some of the intimidation out of workers organizing unions. There are various paths to union work. Workers can join an existing union. They can get hired on by a unionized company. Or, they can organize their...

July 12, 2022 IT’S ALMOST LIKE MC HAMMER was singing about union pension plans… “The nice thing about a union pension is that you can’t touch it,” says Roy Bizzutto, business manager for the Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ International Association (OPCMIA)...

July 4, 2022 WHEN LAIRD CRONK WAS a young man, he wanted to buy a house. Soon after he earned his trade ticket, he walked into a bank in Nanaimo’s Northbrook Mall and applied for mortgage pre-approval. The bank employee asked what he did for a living. Cronk replied he...

June 15, 2022 GREG MCDONALD IS a retired sheet metal worker. Sydney Dash is a 26-year-old heavy equipment operator. They are at opposite ends of their careers. McDonald spent over 40 years in his trade. Dash earned her ticket four years ago. Although they are at...

May 18, 2022 DURING KELLY KIENLEITNER’S FIRST WEEK on the job as a winder, a six-foot-six man stomped up to her and in a great, booming voice bellowed, “This is men’s work!” Kienleitner was the first female winder to be certified in B.C. and the first woman in Canada...