News Releases

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...

May 13, 2022 A PIPEFITTER, AN ELECTRICIAN AND A BOILERMAKER are called out to work on different job sites in and around the Lower Mainland. The pipefitter is working four 10-hour shifts, the electrician is called for a night shift, and the boilermaker took a two-week...

  May 12, 2022 THE BC BUILDING TRADES has won a prestigious international award for its cheeky advocacy campaign aimed at improving construction site sanitation. The organization won the 2022 Reed Award for Best International Campaign in the issue category for...

April 27, 2022 HELP IS AT THE TIP OF YOUR FINGERS. The Construction Industry Rehabilitation Plan (CIRP) is collaborating with Lifeguard Digital Health to customize the already popular Lifeguard app specifically for members of the building trades to access mental...

April 19, 2022 DISHONEST CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORS who underreport income or deliberately misclassify their workers as independent to evade tax and employment fees are costing the B.C. economy at least $308 million a year. “That’s $308 million that isn’t going into...