Op-Eds

June 21, 2022 WHEN I LOOK BACK on all the jobs I’ve had, many times I could have used a union. Like the time $10 went missing from our locker room at a fast food restaurant, and the owner decided to bring in her husband, a retired police officer, to...

June 11, 2022 WE ARE THE BC BUILDING TRADES: 25 affiliated unions representing more than 40,000 unionized construction workers in B.C. Most of our craft unions were formed many years ago, several with over 100 years of service to their respective memberships. Like...

April 13, 2022 IN THESE DARK DAYS of winter and long into this pandemic, it may feel that normal times will never come again. But I take great comfort in the fact that even in these difficult times, our members are doing something amazing. You’re still building B.C....

March 28, 2022 ABOUT A MONTH before Christmas, I participated in the BC Federation of Labour’s lobby of our provincial New Democratic government. The objective was to underline the importance of moving forward promptly with several initiatives: psychological injuries...

March 9, 2022 THE PAST FEW YEARS have highlighted the importance of the work of our members in the BC Building Trades unions. Early on in the pandemic, our trades were deemed essential and most of our members continued to work, providing critical services necessary to...

February 14, 2022 REMEMBER WHEN Bob Seger played in Vancouver in 1996? Not many people do. It was for an album that didn’t do all that well, and when it was over, Seger basically wasn’t seen again until 2006. I went to that concert though. I bought two tickets as a...

January 11, 2022 WHEN KEY MANDATES of the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) are to provide timely return to work and cost effectiveness, you know somebody is going to get hurt.  That somebody, of course, is a worker. Oftentimes, it happens when the injured worker is...

December 10, 2021 I’VE BEEN WRITING for Tradetalk for a long time. Sometimes under my own name. Sometimes co-authoring with a labour leader or two and sometimes under an alias if I was tackling a particularly salacious issue. I’ve always found writing for Tradetalk...

December 3, 2021 WHEN WE TALK about apprenticeship, we talk of the immeasurable benefits to the apprentice; the start of a lifelong and rewarding career with both on-the-job and classroom learning. Our Building Trades unions have led the industry in offering top-notch...

October 14, 2021 BY THE TIME TRADETALK hits your doorstep, the results of the federal election should be known. Elections are probably the most important form of consultation a government can have. The stakes couldn’t be higher. But it’s not just your opinion on who...