Op-Eds

Executive Director’s Message – Common Threads

March 6, 2024 SAFETY. SECURITY. DIGNITY. We do a lot at the BC Building Trades, but in the end, almost all of it can be described by one of these three words. I reflect on them often. What can we do to ensure every single member is safe on the job and comes home at...

President’s Message – Apprenticeship shapes our industry

January 16, 2024 FALL IS TRADITIONALLY when we recognize our apprentices and their importance to our industry. It is our apprentices who will play a crucial role in shaping our province and the future of our trades. As the former executive director of the UA Piping...

Executive Director’s Message – Where will the trades take you?

April 12, 2023 THIS ISSUE of Tradetalk explores the journeys we take as tradespeople. From the early days in the trades to reflections after a lifetime, we’re delving into some of the places you can go. We start this issue by celebrating the opening of the Heat and...

President’s Message – The Value of Union Labour

April 4, 2023 BC BUILDING TRADES (BCBT) unions have spent much of our time in the past several months bargaining the terms of the Standard Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (ICI) collective agreement which is set to expire on April 30, 2023. Under the strong...

President’s Message – Mentoring apprentices key to organizing

January 18, 2023 IN EARLY OCTOBER, affiliates of the BC Building Trades and their delegates met at our 50th Annual Constitutional Convention and annual general meeting in Victoria, B.C. The event was well attended, and we had several guest speakers who addressed the...

Executive Director’s Message – People Are Our Greatest Strength

October 25, 2022 THE PROJECTS WE BUILD are so impressive that we can often lose sight of the people behind them. Our members’ touch so much of the provincial landscape. It’s hard not to fill the pages of TradeTalk with pictures of our members erecting skyscrapers or...