Op-Eds
Workers Advocate’s Message – Severed fingers — severed trust
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...
Rites of passage – Executive Director’s Message
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...
We have a duty to mentor our apprentices – President’s Message
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...
From the Ledge – Get ready to give the government your opinion — on everything
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...
Unpaid sick days causing pain and suffering – Message from the Editor
September 28, 2021 I’VE HAD LOTS OF JOBS. As a teen, I washed dishes at an Italian fast food restaurant and sold toys and pet budgies at Woodward’s department store in Downtown Vancouver. I was a video rental clerk peddling VHS and Betamax copies of Top Gun and...
President’s Message – Tireless work of unions brings benefits for all
September 17, 2021 WHY JOIN A UNION? If you ask someone who is not a member of one, the response is typically about better wages, better pension and health plans. While these are the quantifiable benefits of being a union member, there are many other, often overlooked...
A Message from CBTU – Plenty missing from federal budget
July 21, 2021 WHAT THE LEGACY IMPACT of COVID-19 will be is hard to envision, when we are still deep within the crisis. At the time of putting pen to paper, Ontario and Nova Scotia are both in lockdown, Alberta is experiencing soaring cases, and across the country,...
Workers Advocate’s Message – Chronic pain: a painful story
July 13, 2021 OUR FORMER president of the BC Building Trades Council, Lee Loftus, was a prized member of the workers’ representatives on the Policy, Practice and Consultative Committee (PPCC) for many years. The PPCC consists of two Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB)...
Message from the Editor – This is your magazine. Let’s talk about it.
June 21, 2021 WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, family dinners seemed to last forever. It wasn’t because it took that long to chew through the plate of half meat, half starch and half butter that you just don’t see today. And it wasn’t because there was a pile of dishes waiting...
President’s Message – Plumbed facilities not too much to ask
June 15, 2021 THE BC BUILDING TRADES RECENTLY commissioned an independent report on the sanitation conditions on construction sites in British Columbia. The Report on Washroom Facilities in the Construction Industry provides an in-depth analysis of the current...
