Tom Sigurdson, the executive director of the B.C. Building Trades Council, has written an opinion piece in the Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers, summarizing the critical need for unions representing the building trades to be involved in the Site C dam project.
“By suddenly rejecting our 50-year-old dam construction model, BC Hydro is injecting serious risks into this $8-billion mega-project,” Sigurdson wrote.
“BC Hydro is risking the province’s reputation by experimenting with an untested construction model that will result in delays and cost overruns. This is a danger as British Columbia seeks billions of investment dollars for LNG plants and other major projects, which investors will only build if we can demonstrate a reliable and proven construction model for major projects,” he added.
IUOE Local 115 is a member of the B.C. Building Trades Council, and is working with other Council-affiliated unions to push B.C. Hydro to negotiate a proper labour agreement for the Site C project, based on the historical labour agreements that were used to build all previous major dam projects in B.C.
