Community Benefits Agreement costing money
During the Glen Clark NDP government days in B.C., Glen Clark formed a corporation that over saw highway construction projects.
Union and non-union contractors could bid on the projects. The new corporation would be the hiring hall for all employees employed by the contractors. Contractors would hand in employee work hours to the corporation who would prepare all paycheques. At the end of working 30 days, all non-union employees would have to join a union pertaining to their occupation.
All employees would be paid a union wage, and because of this, the Inland Vancouver Island Highway project completed by the NDP government cost $50 million more than the Coquihalla highway.
The irony of this is that the construction of the Island highway dealt with land clearing, and new bridges, with very minimal rock blasting, whereas the Coquihalla highway was solid rock construction.
Now, our John Horgan minority NDP government is bringing back this corporation in regards to all infrastructure projects in B.C., not just highway construction.
The new corporation is The Community Benefits Agreement. The agreement will be for six years and a two per cent wage increase will be given out each year.
Present pay rates for a Labourer is $28.44 per hour, Flag person is $30.60 per hour, and a excavator operator is $36.99 per hour.
All contractors must pay the corporation 32 cents per hour for all work hours. That is $56.32 per employee per month.
The first contract issued under this new corporation is a four-lane construction project on Highway 1 near Revelstoke, B.C.
Total cost is now $22 million more than the original cost, at taxpayers expense.
John Horgan and his cabinet are two faced. Why? All of them do not practice what they preach.
Why? Take for example, a new roof on a house. All of the NDP cabinet would get more than one estimate on the cost of a new roof.
All of them would take the lowest estimate because the money is coming out of their own pockets, and if the lowest estimate was from a non-union business, they would still take that estimate.
The B.C. NDP government enjoys spending taxpayer dollars.
In summary, this new corporation should be cancelled and go back to the traditional contract bidding where the lowest bid is given the contract, whether the contractor is a union or non-union contractor.
For the taxpayers that voted for change in the 2017 provincial election, I do not believe that you would have voted for change, if you knew that this new corporation was coming back into existence. You have no right to complain about having to pay more in tax money.
Unbelievable!
Joe Sawchuk
Duncan