BC Leads country in job losses for October

[Cactusflower]

Don't be so ridiculous Urbane. I was married to a construction worker for 23 years. He was in Vancouver, he was in Kamloops, he was in Castlgar, back to Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Vancouver Island, over to Edmonton, Calgary and other parts of the country I cannot even remember!!

And you are ASSUMING that Site C will be cancelled. It well may be. But maybe not. Regardless, I am sure that there will be layoffs 'just before Christmas' (as if this makes a difference to a construction worker, who knows a layoff is imminent at any time of year) and there may be layoffs after Christmas. Are construction workers that much more important than retail people who are hired for Christmas and then laid off immediately after Christmas?

You're just trying to fabricate issues to demonize the present government.

What you're really saying is that if these 2,000 workers lose their jobs they can move away and perhaps find other jobs elsewhere. Very comforting to them I'm sure!!

And I didn't assume anything. You misread what I said. Read it over again and you will see the word "if." A few days ago I said that I wouldn't bet a nickel on it but I thought there was a chance that Horgan might let Site C go ahead. I still feel that way but I'm far from confident. There's a strong contingent in his party who favour Site C, e.g. Moe Sihota and some of the private sector union types, and he also has to look at the optics of firing all those people just before Christmas if he cancels the project.

FF is right, Urb. and I wasn't being flippant. Construction workers know the precarious nature of their work. If they're good at what they do, they won't be out of a job for long. The only people making a big deal out of this whole scenario are the Site C supporters, and I'll bet if you took a poll of all the workers up there, you would be surprised to find how few of them care one way or another about the dam. It's a job, just like any other, and if it gets terminated, there's always work somewhere else. These guys are quite accustomed to moving from job to job.

[Urbane]

FF is right, Urb. and I wasn't being flippant. Construction workers know the precarious nature of their work. If they're good at what they do, they won't be out of a job for long. The only people making a big deal out of this whole scenario are the Site C supporters, and I'll bet if you took a poll of all the workers up there, you would be surprised to find how few of them care one way or another about the dam. It's a job, just like any other, and if it gets terminated, there's always work somewhere else. These guys are quite accustomed to moving from job to job.

You're wrong. From not too long ago - excerpt:

Both the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) and the Construction Maintenance and Allied Workers Canada (CMAW) have sent letters to NDP Leader John Horgan to talk about his position on the project, which includes sending the dam for a BC Utilities Commission review if he forms a minority government in the coming weeks.

CLAC, which represents workers employed by civil works contractor Peace River Hydro Partners, says it’s circulating a petition amongst its workers at the dam to support its continued construction. Any delay resulting from the review would be “undue and unwarranted,” the union said in a release, and its outright cancellation would have an “immense” impact on workers.

“Many of our members have made significant household decisions and commitments based upon the expectation of long-term work,” CLAC BC Provincial Director David Prentice wrote in June 12 letters to both Horgan and BC Green Leader Andrew Weaver.

“Your party’s recommendations concerning this project will have a deep and profound impact upon their lives, their families, and all of those in Fort St. John, the Peace Country, and the province of British Columbia whose livelihoods depend on the continuation of construction at Site C.”

Peace River Hydro Partners holds the $1.75-billion civil works contract to build the earth-filled dam, work that is expected to continue to 2024, Prentice noted. CLAC currently represents more than 1,000 workers on the project, he added.

“As the representatives of the largest group of unionized workers on the project, we believe we are uniquely positioned to deliver a message of concern on behalf of the workers of Site C.
http://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/site-c/ ... 1.20572716

So you and FF can flippantly suggest that the workers don't really care about their jobs, that they can move elsewhere if they want jobs, and they knew what they were getting into but the workers themselves DO want those jobs. Will John Horgan deliver 2,000 pink slips just before Christmas? We'll see.

[Cactusflower]

FF is right, Urb. and I wasn't being flippant. Construction workers know the precarious nature of their work. If they're good at what they do, they won't be out of a job for long. The only people making a big deal out of this whole scenario are the Site C supporters, and I'll bet if you took a poll of all the workers up there, you would be surprised to find how few of them care one way or another about the dam. It's a job, just like any other, and if it gets terminated, there's always work somewhere else. These guys are quite accustomed to moving from job to job.

You're wrong. From not too long ago - excerpt:

Both the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) and the Construction Maintenance and Allied Workers Canada (CMAW) have sent letters to NDP Leader John Horgan to talk about his position on the project, which includes sending the dam for a BC Utilities Commission review if he forms a minority government in the coming weeks.

CLAC, which represents workers employed by civil works contractor Peace River Hydro Partners, says it’s circulating a petition amongst its workers at the dam to support its continued construction. Any delay resulting from the review would be “undue and unwarranted,” the union said in a release, and its outright cancellation would have an “immense” impact on workers.

“Many of our members have made significant household decisions and commitments based upon the expectation of long-term work,” CLAC BC Provincial Director David Prentice wrote in June 12 letters to both Horgan and BC Green Leader Andrew Weaver.

“Your party’s recommendations concerning this project will have a deep and profound impact upon their lives, their families, and all of those in Fort St. John, the Peace Country, and the province of British Columbia whose livelihoods depend on the continuation of construction at Site C.”

Peace River Hydro Partners holds the $1.75-billion civil works contract to build the earth-filled dam, work that is expected to continue to 2024, Prentice noted. CLAC currently represents more than 1,000 workers on the project, he added.

“As the representatives of the largest group of unionized workers on the project, we believe we are uniquely positioned to deliver a message of concern on behalf of the workers of Site C.
http://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/site-c/ ... 1.20572716

So you and FF can flippantly suggest that the workers don't really care about their jobs, that they can move elsewhere if they want jobs, and they knew what they were getting into but the workers themselves DO want those jobs. Will John Horgan deliver 2,000 pink slips just before Christmas? We'll see.

The CLAC? Must be a branch of the HRA (Holy Rollers of America). And why weren't the ICBA included in the poll? Or SNC Lavalin? They have a big contract with BC Hydro as well.Of course unions are going to fight for their members, it's their job. It's why union members pay dues. But if the project is terminated for economic, technological, and environmental reasons, they are *bleep*. and must move on to other projects.

[Urbane]

The CLAC? Must be a branch of the HRA (Holy Rollers of America). And why weren't the ICBA included in the poll? Or SNC Lavalin? They have a big contract with BC Hydro as well.Of course unions are going to fight for their members, it's their job. It's why union members pay dues. But if the project is terminated for economic, technological, and environmental reasons, they are *bleep*. and must move on to other projects.

The workers losing their jobs, if Site C is cancelled, is a big joke to you but it's a serious issue for the workers and their families.

[Cactusflower]

The CLAC? Must be a branch of the HRA (Holy Rollers of America). And why weren't the ICBA included in the poll? Or SNC Lavalin? They have a big contract with BC Hydro as well.Of course unions are going to fight for their members, it's their job. It's why union members pay dues. But if the project is terminated for economic, technological, and environmental reasons, they are *bleep*. and must move on to other projects.

The workers losing their jobs, if Site C is cancelled, is a big joke to you but it's a serious issue for the workers and their families.

It's not a joke that workers might be losing their jobs, but it's kinda funny that you're making a mountain out of a molehill.

[Urbane]

It's not a joke that workers might be losing their jobs, but it's kinda funny that you're making a mountain out of a molehill.

Seriously??? How insensitive can you get?? 2,000 workers may be given pink slips just before Christmas, with many being forced to move elsewhere to find employment, and you suggest that pointing that out is making a mountain out of a molehill??? Disgusting. Their jobs aren't important to you but I can assure you that those jobs are important to the workers and their families. They wouldn't be too happy with your comments.

[The Green Barbarian]

It was crass of you to ever ask. But then again, you are definitely crass:

Sigh. I try to be nice to you. You could have gone one of two ways, and not surprisingly you took the low road, in a very ironic way if I might add. One day it would be nice if we could find some level of understanding of each other, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Urban Cowboy]

It's not a joke that workers might be losing their jobs, but it's kinda funny that you're making a mountain out of a molehill.

Seriously??? How insensitive can you get?? 2,000 workers may be given pink slips just before Christmas, with many being forced to move elsewhere to find employment, and you suggest that pointing that out is making a mountain out of a molehill??? Disgusting. Their jobs aren't important to you but I can assure you that those jobs are important to the workers and their families. They wouldn't be too happy with your comments.

And this an atypical representation of NDP zealot thinking.

Disgusting example of human behavior motivated by nothing more than hatred and revenge, with zero compassion for victims.

[The Green Barbarian]

[
Seriously??? How insensitive can you get??.

I am starting to realize with these elitist NDP zealots, there really is no limit to the insensitivity. It's just unbelievable.

[Cactusflower]

It's not a joke that workers might be losing their jobs, but it's kinda funny that you're making a mountain out of a molehill.

Seriously??? How insensitive can you get?? 2,000 workers may be given pink slips just before Christmas, with many being forced to move elsewhere to find employment, and you suggest that pointing that out is making a mountain out of a molehill??? Disgusting. Their jobs aren't important to you but I can assure you that those jobs are important to the workers and their families. They wouldn't be too happy with your comments.

What you call insensitive, I call realistic. Nobody knows how the NDP is going to rule on this, but if I were working up there i"d be using my days off to seek other employment, preferably in a better climate.

[Urbane]

^^

[Smurf]

flamingfingers » Yesterday, 5:56 pm

Construction workers - those workers at Site C - work themselves out of a job - they work for a few weeks/months and then when that phase of their work is done, they move on to the next job that lasts for a few weeks or months. That's the nature of construction....

You and your buds are trying to make out that Site C is providing full-time, well-paying jobs to the same 2,300 people from start of construction to the completion of the damn dam. You KNOW or SHOULD know that is not true... yet you still try to peddle that BS!

!

No one has said all the jobs are full time well paying jobs. Anyone knows that many jobs on a construction site are not long term, or at least they should. Another thing they should know is that when one group leaves another one takes it's place so the employment base remains basically the same. In other words for x number of years approximately 2000 people will be employed at any given time. Shutting it down means that approximately 2000 jobs will be lost for the remainder of the time the project lasts. It also means that large numbers of jobs associated with the project in other ways are also lost. All in all it would be a huge loss to the province and it's people. The biggest losers would probably be the First Nations communities that would loose their contracts and probably some of the best jobs they have ever had along with the training and experience many are receiving that would help them for the rest of their lives.