The office is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays and from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.

To contact the office, call 905-469-9299 or toll free 1-877-793-4863.

The meetings were organized by the Canadian division of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD).

The meetings provided an opportunity for skilled trades workers to voice their concerns about Bill C-377 directly to their MPs.

Bob Blakely, director of Canadian affairs for the BCTD, said skilled trades workers from Vancouver to St. John’s are worried about the impacts of the legislation and it’s costly negative impacts on major oil sands developments and other large-scale energy projects.

“Our workers rely on their unions to provide necessary benefits and training with the dues that they pay,” he said.

“Our partner contractors – and clients they work for – rely on them to use the skilled manpower we provide in a cost-efficient manner. C-377 is going to see that money spent on creating more government bureaucracy.  It will slow down Canada’s economic recovery in the construction sector.”

Blakely said Bill C-377 is intended to fix a problem that does not exist and endangers the ability of the building trades to build projects across the country and create jobs.

He said it would create an expanded, expensive and redundant bureaucracy and actually duplicate processes that are already in place to provide accountability and transparency for workers.

“Our workers belong to private sector unions,” he noted. “Unlike charities and political parties, they do not receive any public subsidies or public monies. Our workers and their families enjoy tax deductibility on the dues they pay to their unions, the same way other professionals like doctors and lawyers do. If enacted, C-377 will negatively impact 500,000 Canadian skilled trades workers.”

The BCTD co-ordinates activities and provides resources to 15 affiliated trade unions in the construction, maintenance and fabrication industries. In Canada, the BCTD represents 500,000 skilled trades workers.

Tower and mobile crane operators, in particular, should be especially vigilant as a blitz in July and August will target their sector.

Fines for non-compliance are very steep so operators should report any known workplace hazards or contraventions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to their supervisor or employer.

The province says inspectors will be sent to workplaces in a number of target industries, including construction.

The first construction sector enforcement blitz began in May and runs for a four-month period. It is aimed an ensuring students are safe and don’t get injured while working on summer jobs. Inspectors are visiting workplaces – including construction sites – where new and young workers are employed.

Between 2006 and 2010, 34 young workers aged 15 to 24 died in work-related incidents in Ontario. During the same time period, more than 46,000 young workers received injuries resulting in lost time at work.

The blitz will ensure young workers:

• Are protected by required safety measures, equipment and procedures to prevent injuries;
• Are properly instructed, trained and supervised on jobs; and
• Meet minimum age requirements.

The inspectors have been ordered to shut down unsafe worksites when necessary and employers could face fines under the OHSA.

The second construction sector enforcement blitz runs in June and targets hazards associated with traffic control during roadwork.

The third construction sector enforcement blitz runs through July and August and will be aimed at tower and mobile cranes.

The fourth construction sector enforcement blitz runs through September and October and will target supervisors on construction projects.

In early 2013, the province also plans an enforcement blitz on ladder safety and fall protection hazards in the construction and industrial sectors.

According to the province, enforcement blitzes in 2010 included 9,000 visits to worksites, resulting in 26,000 compliance orders being issued.

The province’s team of more than 400 health and safety inspectors have conducted 25 inspection blitzes and issued more than 360,000 compliance orders since June 2008.

The project will include the construction of a 17-storey patient-care tower at Queen and Victoria streets, and the renovation of 150,000 square feet of existing space.

Once the planning and design aspects are completed, the hospital and Infrastructure Ontario will issue a request for qualifications for a company to do the construction work.

A date has not yet been set for construction to start.

The additional space will allow the hospital to relocate patient beds and make room for:

• Five new operating rooms, each large enough to include state-of-the-art medical imaging equipment.
• Enlarged, state-of-the-art facilities for orthopedic surgery, oncology, coronary care and a cystic fibrosis program, as well as critical care space for coronary and medical-surgical units.
• Expansion of the emergency department. It was designed to accommodate 45,000 patient visits, but now accommodates 70,000 a year.

Health and Long-Term Care Minister Deb Matthews said the project will enable the hospital to deliver high-quality care closer to home.

“This is an important step forward in the redevelopment of St. Michael’s Hospital and great news for patients and residents.”

Dr. Robert Howard, CEO of the hospital, said the project will enable hospital staff to provide quality care within a state-of-the-art facility that includes the latest advances in technology and lifesaving equipment.

“It’s time to put politics aside and put thousands of construction workers back to work,” he said in a statement released May 4. “The Operating Engineers strongly encourage the State Department and other relevant federal agencies to aggressively implement President (Barack) Obama’s March executive order to approve this project as quickly as possible.”

In January, the Obama administration rejected TransCanada’s application for a proposed $7-billion, 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas. Obama later reversed course, saying he was fast-tracking approvals on part of the project which he had earlier rejected.

Obama has said he will expedite approval for a portion of the Keystone XL pipeline.

“After three years of study and significant environmental improvement, after the rerouting of the pipeline around the sensitive Sandhills area of Nebraska, it is beyond time to approve this project,” said Callahan. “America’s construction workers simply cannot afford to wait.”

Callahan said the pipeline project will create the kind of high-paying, skilled jobs that are vital to the American economy.

April employment data showed that construction contractors again cut workers from their payrolls, he said, even as the construction season should be in full swing.

“It is clear that Keystone XL offers game-changing potential to the sector hardest hit by the recession and where the unemployment rate is still near 15 per cent.”

Callahan said Operating Engineers are among the most highly trained and skilled pipeline workers in the world.

“Their expertise will ensure that Keystone is built right, built safe and built to last.”

The IUOE represents more than 400,000 members in 123 local unions across the U.S. and Canada, including Local 793.

An online survey has been set up on the College’s website at www.collegeoftrades.ca.

The College is encouraging all of its stakeholders, including employers, employees, apprentices and members of the public to provide their feedback on the fees.

Following are the four classes of membership to be affected and the proposed fees:

Apprentices – $50 to $100 annually

Tradesworkers (voluntary and compulsory) – $50 to $100 annually

Journeypersons – $100 to $200 annually

Employers/Sponsors – $100 to $600 annually, depending on the number of trades employees

The deadline for receipt of comments is June 3, 2012.

The College says the consultation is important because membership fees have an impact on each member of the College and support its ability to meet its mandate.

For more information about the proposed membership fees, click here.

To fill out the online comment form, click here.

The College represents more than 150 skilled trades, tradespersons, apprentices and employers across the province.

When fully operational, the college will regulate persons practicing in skilled trades in Ontario and employers who employ them.

The College will also be promoting the trades and apprenticeship.

To see the story and photos, click here.

The survey was done by Ipsos-Reid for the Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS), which represents the interests of the organized building trades and their signatory contractors in the ICI sector.

Thirty-three per cent of the contractors surveyed expect to conduct more business this year while 14 per cent expect to conduct less business.

Work expectations were strongest in northern Ontario where 80 per cent of contractors in the region rated the current economic situation as good. With nearly $5 billion in investment slated to begin this year, northern contractors have significantly upped their expectations for 2012.

Conversely, work forecasts were weakest in southwestern Ontario, consistent with their bleak appraisal of their current economic situation.

Contractors in the GTA and central Ontario tempered their expectations the most versus 2011.

Firms in eastern Ontario were the second most positive when rating their work expectations.

By sector, contractors who do work in the industrial and institutional segments are expecting to do less business this year, while those in the commercial sector expect to be busier.

Meanwhile, another report by the OCS forecasts that construction will continue to be a leader in employment growth over the coming years.

The report, called Construction Looking Forward, forecasts that 120,000 new workers will be required to meet increased demand and retirements by 2020.

New entrants to the trades will fill about one-half of those positions, the report indicates, which leaves a gap of approximately 60,000 workers.