News Releases

June 16, 2021 CONSTRUCTION WORKERS are being urged to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as possible. The BC Building Trades supports the Faster, Together campaign, which is promoting acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to help speed...

June 7, 2021 PANDEMIC? WHAT PANDEMIC? COVID-19 hasn’t stopped the women’s committee of the BC Building Trades from continuing its good work. Build TogetHER awarded two $1,000 scholarships in January, thanks to the generosity of the BC Regional Council of Carpenters....

June 7, 2021 THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR the death of 24-year-old rock scaler Sam Fitzpatrick should pay with the one thing they took from him: time. And that could happen – maybe soon. “These charges are unprecedented insofar as they are criminally charging a big company...

May 27, 2021 IT'S THE RIGHT thing to do. Period. On the eve of global Menstrual Hygiene Day May 28, BC Infrastructure Benefits (BCIB) announces it will provide free menstrual products to its employees, removing a barrier for people on some of the biggest construction...

May 25, 2021 WANTED: TALENTED TRADESPEOPLE who enjoy fair wages, appreciate great benefits and want to work for reputable contractors. That’s the message from a number of B.C. construction unions as they ramp up for both small and large upcoming projects. “We are...

May 17, 2021 WHEN THE BC LIBERALS DEFEATED THE NDP in May 2001, everyone expected changes to apprenticeship training. But few expected the degree of devastation that followed. The Industry Training and Apprenticeship Commission (ITAC) was dissolved in 2003 and...

April 21, 2021 EVERYBODY DOES IT, but only construction workers are expected to do it in a filthy portable toilet. “We’re talking about the sanitation practices for workers on construction sites,” said Brynn Bourke, interim executive director for BCBT. “The time has...

April 20, 2021 THE BC BUILDING TRADES applauds the BC NDP government for investing in essential infrastructure, jobs and skills development. Budget 2021 commits a record $26.4 billion to capital spending over three years. This investment in hospitals, housing,...

April 17, 2021 EISLEY MCKAY OWES A LOT TO THE JOURNEYPERSON who showed him the ropes when he was a first-year plumbing apprentice. “She explains processes, tools and tricks of the trade – she is a great teacher,” he says. But not only did she teach him a lot about the...

April 1, 2021 WHEN COVID STRUCK IN MARCH 2020 and construction was deemed an essential service, it was quite a shock for those in trades training. Program coordinators had to be quickon their feet to keep apprentices moving forward. Paddy Byrne, director of training...