News Releases
BCBT takes issue with report on substance use in the construction industry
March 13, 2023 Response to Blueprint for Action in BC Report The ‘Construction Safety and Substance Use: Blueprint for Action in BC’ report was recently released. It was sponsored by the employer association BC Construction Safety Alliance. An initial review of the...
Labour availability, support for transitioning workers remain key priorities for budget 2023
February 15, 2023 TO ENSURE WORKERS’ voices are heard, Canada’s Building Trades Unions has made pre-budget submissions to the federal government, outlining the priorities of the building trades for the year ahead. “It was through early and consistent advocacy that the...
DECONSTRUCTING A MEME – Pile drivers and operating engineers take on removal of famous barge
January 25, 2023 FROM THE DAY THE BIG RED BARGE washed up on Sunset Beach in the midst of raging storms last winter, it captured a special place in the collective minds of Metro Vancouver residents. The barge was a tourist attraction. It was called a living monument...
BUILDING TRADES BID FAREWELL TO THE BEST PREMIER CONSTRUCTION WORKERS EVER HAD
January 5, 2023 When B.C. Premier John Horgan gave his final speech at the BC Building Trades 50th annual convention in October, it was clear that this was a man with high regard for the province’s unionized construction workers. The warmth and camaraderie were...
Chance Connection, Big Opportunity
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...
Help for members with mental health and substance use challenges
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...
Gain strength, support and power through your union’s women’s committee
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...
Don’t just join a union, participate in it!
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...
Get on top of training at union schools
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...
The path to unionization for today’s working class heroes
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...
