International Operating Engineer - Winter 2018

Canadian News
Persistence Pays Off in Site C Dam Organizing Drive
AS 2017 BEGAN, the International
Union of Operating Engineers Local
115 faced major challenges. BC
Hydro, a government corporation,
had begun construction on a project
that represented the largest public
expenditure in British Columbia’s
history, the Site C Dam. Located
just outside of Fort St. John in BC’s
northeast corner, the project promised
to employ hundreds of Heavy
Equipment Operators.
value that unions play on construction
sites, BC Hydro chose a managed
open-site model of construction
that demonstrated a clear change in
the labour relations model that had
been used in dam construction and
upgrading in the province of BC for
over 50 years.
Peace River Hydro Partners (PRHP
)had won the main civil contract. At
$1.75B, the contract was the largest
Association of Canada (CLAC), and
was hiring Heavy Equipment Operators
from across Canada.
CLAC is widely regarded as an
employer-dominated union whose
collective agreements undermine
those of unions with strong trade union
principles such as the IUOE Local 115.
They are not affiliated to the Canadian
Labour Congress or the BC Federation
of Labour, and were suspended
January 2017, to change
the certification at Peace
River Hydro Partners and
give the employees the
representation that they
deserved – representation
by IUOE. Understanding
the importance of this effort,
General President James
T. Callahan extended his
support, providing both
financial and “boots on the
ground” assistance for this
campaign.
At the time, BC had a government
headed by Premier Christy Clark, a
government that had spent sixteen
years attacking worker’s rights and
enacting legislation to weaken unions.
Site C was no different. Empowered
by a government that dismissed the
single contract to be awarded on the
Site C project. PRHP was a consortium
consisting of Samsung, Acciona,
and Petrowest, a fledgling company
facing serious financial issues. The
joint venture had secured a collective
agreement with the Christian Labour
from the International Trade Union
Confederation before withdrawing
their membership.
To defend the jurisdiction of the
IUOE, Local 115 began an aggressive,
bottom-up organizing campaign in
International Special
Representative David De
Sousa assisted with a strong
commitment organizing
workers in temperatures
that regularly dipped below
-25 Celsius, and worked
days that often began at
4:45am and ended after 10:30pm. The
campaign was one of the largest in the
history of IUOE Local 115, with other
IUOE Locals across Canada sending
organizers to airports and remote
locations within their own provinces to
talk to workers from Site C.
Unfortunately, instead of granting
a new certification, the British
Columbia Labour Relations Board
decided that the workers should not
be given the right to vote on which
Union they wanted, despite the fact
that 289 workers had signed organizing
cards. It would have been easy to feel
defeated after such a result, but Local
115 was determined to ensure that the
commitment shown by the General
President ended with members of the
IUOE working at Site C.
During and after the organizing
drive, IUOE Local 115 conducted a
multi-faceted campaign to persuade
British Columbians that the BC
government’s Site C management
approach was bad for local businesses,
bad for local First Nations, and bad for
all British Columbians. The Local Union
staff worked tirelessly to ensure that
the BC New Democratic Party formed
the next provincial government as a
May election grew near; they ensured
that Site C remained an election issue,
and were rewarded when NDP Premier
John Horgan was sworn in on July 18,
2017. During the same period Local
115 positioned itself to take part in the
next phase of the Site C project.
With bids for the Spillways and
Generating Station contract submitted,
Premier Horgan ordered BC Hydro to
refrain from making an award until his
government could review the project.
Within weeks, Jessica McDonald, the
President and CEO of BC Hydro was
replaced, along with the Executive
Chair of the BC Hydro Board.
After the dust settled, the Generating
Station contract was awarded to
a consortium (Aecon-Flatiron-
Dragados-EBC) committed to a project
labour agreement that includes the
IUOE, with the government voicing its
support for an expanded PLA model
that will benefit working people and
communities. The efforts of General
President Callahan and IUOE Local
115 have ensured that the Operating
Engineer work is conducted by IUOE
members.
When work begins this spring,
members of IUOE Local 115 who
are dispatched to Site C will accept
that work understanding that it
was made possible because of the
commitment and support of General
President Callahan, the IUOE General
Executive Board, Local 115 Business
Manager Brian Cochrane and all of the
dedicated staff and membership that
participated in this effort.
British Columbians will now be
rewarded with a project that is built
to the highest standards including the
skilled members of IUOE Local 115.
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INTERNATIONAL OPERATING ENGINEER
WINTER 2018 17