Skills Shortage Subject of Meeting
By 250 News
Thursday, March 09, 2006 03:59 AM
"Ready or not here it comes....a shortage of skilled workers in B.C." That is the title of a special forum set for this evening at the College of New Caledonia.
Three speakers are lined up to make presentations, Jim SInclair, the President of the B.C. Federation of Labour, John WInter, the President of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, and Cindy Oliver, the President of the Federation of Post Secondary Educators.
The predicted shortage of skilled labour has been the subject of much planning and budgetary considerations of late.
A special committee has been established in Prince George to try and see if there are ways to streamline the immigration process for those with skills who want to come to Canada (see previous story) and the Prince George Construction Association is looking at the possibility of hiring a job "coach" who can guide skilled immigrants through the process with a view of boosting numbers.
The recent provincial budget dedicated more dollars to the apprenticeships program. Finance Minister Carole Taylor announced the province was dedicating $400 million dollars over four years to the problem of shortages in skilled labour and promised her government would work with the Federal government and agencies to speed up the approval and entry process for skilled immigrants.
Tonight's discussion is set to take place in the Atrium of CNC. It is slated to run from 6:30 to 8:30.
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Posted by: Chadermando on March 9 2006 2:18 PM
The clear facts are that the construction association wants to bring in skilled labour from foreign countries to hold the line on labour costs at the expense of Canadian workers and their families. These workers will demand less for a wage and will be more compliant for the union bosses who collect their paycheck and derive their power from workers that allow others to determine their future.
The clear fact is that their is no shortage of workers peresently in the trades in Prince George. My dad runs the biggest contruction projects around and he says he does not see a shortage of skilled workers. What he sees is the companies looking for ways to reduce labour costs to increase profits and compete in a non-union driven economic environment.
The trades have not recieved wage compensation in line with inflation for over ten years now, and if anything that is where the problem is. The biggest complaint, which is why I left the trades, is that an unskilled labourer at a job site makes $23 dollars an hour when you are lucky to make $25 dollars an hour as a skilled tradesman.
I was a third year electrician working on the hospital expansion making $10 dollars an hour for an out of town non-union company after sitting on the local union call list for 2 years and yet the labourers where making $23 dollars an hour on the same job site. I left the trades after the union told my employer I was a union salter, which I specifically refussed to do (I was stabbed in the back for paying union dues), and will not look back.
If they want to attract quality tradesmen then they must be willing to pay a decent living wage for those tradesmen, and the unions must start working for their constituents and not for the interest of the union executive. Government contracts should not go to companies abusing the trades with cheep non-union workers undercutting the compensation in the trades. Of the 16 people in my pre-apprentice class only 2 stayed in the trade, because of the working compensation issues. By second year that number improved to half the class that stayed in the trade.
If the construction association is worried about skilled trade shortage then retention should be their priority and not replacement of the Canadian workforce with complient foreign workers who will undercut the livelyhood of those who built this country.
Shame on the unions for going along with the construction association. We have the wokers, we do not have the working conditions to retain those workers.