News Releases
Underground economy hurts workers, costs taxpayers hundreds of millions
March 13, 2024 AFTER SEVEN YEARS, Kyle Shapitka finally realized what he’d been missing. From when he started his first job as a glazier around 2014 to leaving that job for a union gig in 2021, Shapitka had been misclassified as a “subcontractor.” He was never paid...
What will it take to get women PPE that actually fits?
March 4, 2024 IMAGINE WALKING ONTO A JOB site and all the tools you need are there. There’s a nice selection of personal protective equipment (PPE) that fits you. You put on the PPE, grab your tools and get to work knowing you’ll be safe on the job. That scenario...
First all-Indigenous cohort graduates EJTC
February 29, 2024 SOME OF WAKENNIOSTA COOPER’S earliest memories are hiding behind her grandma’s living room couch doing puzzles. “I’ve been doing puzzles since I was a kid ... it was one of my favourite things to do,” Cooper said. “I’ve always liked problem solving...
IBEW 993 Lights Up Women’s Shelter
February 21, 2024 THE LIGHTS IN A WOMEN’S SHELTER in Kitimat, B.C. are shining brighter this winter thanks to Alyssa Rogers and a sisterhood of electricians from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 993 (IBEW 993). Rogers is a second-year...
Touting the Trades – BCBT launches Trades Ambassador Program to connect with high school students
January 9, 2024 THE COLLEGE OF THE BC BUILDING TRADES has launched its Trade Ambassador program with the aim of attracting more young people to the sector. The program is made up of young members of the building trades — like Kirsty Lawton — who volunteer to go into...
B.C. LNG: From pipe dream to reality
November 24, 2023 IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE that liquefied natural gas (LNG) was once nothing more than a pipe dream in B.C. Back in the early 2000s, LNG development was limited to exploration, with questions surrounding its viability. Now, more than 10 years since BC...
Premier Eby announces legal requirement for flush toilets on construction sites
October 31, 2023 Premier Eby announces legal requirement for flush toilets on construction sites BC construction unions welcome the announcement Premier David Eby has announced the B.C. government will legally require flush toilets on construction sites of 25 workers...
BCBT makes history by organizing Canada Line TFWs
October 11, 2023 LUIS DIEGO-BRENES STILL REMEMBERS the party he and his co-workers threw when they finally received their backdated pay for building the Canada Line extension connecting Richmond and Vancouver. “Of course, we were there with our whole families, our...
Flush Toilets Now: B.C. construction unions demand flushing toilets on work sites
PRESS RELEASE (For Release Thursday, October 12th, 2023) Flush Toilets Now: B.C. construction unions demand flushing toilets on work sites New report outlines path to better conditions There are $358 billion worth of construction projects either underway or on the...
The GENESIS of TRADEtalk
September 26, 2023 WHEN TOM SIGURDSON approached the executive board of the BC Building Trades (BCBT) about the possibility of launching a quarterly magazine for its members 25 years ago, he wasn’t sure what the outcome would be. It was a tumultuous time for the...