National

Former Dam Workers Say $9-billion Site C Project Should Be Union-built

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 16 Apr, 2015 03:26 PM

VICTORIA — Workers who built some of B.C.'s most iconic mega-projects are at the legislature pushing for a union-backed labour force on the $9-billion Site C hydroelectric dam near Fort St. John.

Jack Whittaker says he worked on the W.A.C. Bennett Dam near Hudson's Hope more than 50 years ago and that having union workers on Site C will get the project done on time and on budget.

Crown-owned BC Hydro says it plans to have union and non-union companies and workers at Site C.

Energy Minister Bill Bennett says he will meet Whittaker and others but will tell them that Site C will be built with a combined labour force.

Tom Sigurdson of the B.C. and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council says an open-shop site on Site C will create chaos and likely increase costs as companies compete for a limited pool of skilled workers.

Last month, Premier Christy Clark intervened to reverse BC Hydro's decision to switch to an open-shop format that would prohibit union organizing on the Site C project.

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