Op-Eds
Time to put the brakes on uncertified tradespeople
June 11, 2021 By Brynn Bourke & Melissa Chirino DO YOU WANT someone without training to work on the electrical wiring of your home, your child’s school, or the hospital in your community? Or how about the brakes on your car, or on the 18-wheeler behind you as you...
Executive Director’s Message – The big impact of all the little things that make our communities better
April 9, 2021 AFTER BEING WITH THE BUILDING TRADES for most of a decade, I’ve had the unique privilege of seeing what we can accomplish when we work together. There are many big things we do that make their way into the public; like the big infrastructure projects we...
President’s Message – Generations of skilled tradespeople passing along the talents of their craft
March 22, 2021 MANY OF US IN THE BUILDING TRADES have had the fortunate experience of having family and friends in the business. I myself had my father, who is a plumber by trade and has been working in the industry his whole life. Being a plumber allowed him to...
A Message from CBTU
February 2, 2021 THE CONSTRUCTION industry, early on, was deemed essential in most areas in Canada and contractors and tradespeople have adapted extremely well to ensure the health and safety of all workers while continuing to build and maintain vital infrastructure....
Stressed? It’s OK to seek help
January 11, 2021 MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ARE PROVIDED FREE TO MEMBERS If you work in construction, you may often feel like you are under a lot of pressure; it’s natural to feel stressed or anxious. But if you become overwhelmed by these feelings on a regular basis,...
Executive Director’s end of year message: Giving thanks to construction workers in 2020
December 18, 2020 2020 BEGAN AS IT DOES EVERY YEAR - with our annual Bentall Memorial in January, when we commemorate the four workers whose lives were lost in the Bentall IV construction disaster. This small ceremony has particular importance for me as we are always...
President’s Message – Apprenticeship and what it means to the union movement
December 8, 2020 APPRENTICESHIP IS THE foundation upon which our unions are built. Historically, many of our Building Trades apprentices have learned and practised their skills under a “master tradesperson,” until they, too, became skilled at their craft. This passing...
A letter to our members about opioids
November 16, 2020 DEAR TRADESPEOPLE, It’s been a difficult few months of anxiety, loneliness, frustration and anger. COVID- 19 has changed our world. For weeks, even months, we have been told to isolate, to wear masks, to keep our distance from other people in an...
Making the case for workers
October 27, 2020 ON MARCH 12, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and the world as we knew it changed. Almost immediately, the focus in the construction sector was on occupational health and safety protocols and personal protective...
COVID-19 and Canada’s New Deal
September 29. 2020 CANADA IS FACING unprecedented health, social and economic challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. The over half a million highly-skilled women and men that make up Canada’s Building Trades Unions are committed to continue working on building the...
