Last week, I was able to attend the Canada's Building Trades Unions conference in Gatineau, QC and learn more about labour issues in the construction industry.
One of the workers who spoke with me was Chris Flett, Business Manager for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 955 from Alberta.
Flett has been outspoken about a longstanding union-busting policy in Alberta's construction
industry known as "double breasting."
"Double breasting" allows the employer of a unionized workplace to circumvent a collective agreement by creating spinoff companies with non-unionized workers.
Alberta’s lenient labour laws have allowed double breasting to proliferate. The practice has contributed to Alberta having the lowest unionization rates in Canada.
Employers began double breasting to break unions during the economic downturn in the 1980s.
"Union density in this sector went from 70% in 1982 to 10% in 1984, which resulted in wages decreasing 30 to 40% for the average construction worker," according to the Alberta Labour History Institute.
Alberta construction workers are campaigning hard to end double breasting, but employers are pushing back.
"There are powerful lobby groups within the construction industries that are really dead set against this," Flett explained. "That is the biggest barrier. There is a lot of
money and a lot of political push from giant corporations."
"We really need to seize the moment," Flett added. "This is our time, here’s our chance to make lasting change to our labour code."
