PressProgress' first 2021 labour reporting intern Emma Arkell recently wrote a great feature about a concerning trend driving down wages and safety in the building trades.
BC is considering new "micro-credentials" for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) workers, Arkell writes for BC Building Trades' magazine Tradetalk.
This means HVAC workers could take shorter, less thorough training to get certified to perform specific HVAC tasks. These workers would then get paid
less than workers with more comprehensive Red Seal certifications — driving down wages and safety in the trades.
"[UA 516 President Jason Amesbury] said that any effort to take apart the trades and provide workers with only partial credentials does “a disservice to the trade and to the integrity of the work.”
“I think when you part-out the training and the credentials, you run the risk of poor workmanship — big costs, big mistakes and big safety issues,” said Amesbury."
"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits Unifor Local 200 and Local 444 members in Windsor, Ont., Thursday, March 14, 2024." Pboto via Nicole Osborne/The Canadian Press.
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