June 24, 2008

RICHARD GILBERT

Equipment sits idle at the site for the construction of twin tunnels for a water filtration project in North Vancouver.

Cancelled Bilfinger Berger Canada contract leaves Filipino workers idle

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

Temporary foreign workers who were hired to work on a drinking-water project in North Vancouver have been left hanging for months without any source of income, after the contractor was terminated.

Metro Vancouver ended the contract for work on the construction of twin tunnels for a water treatment plant with Bilfinger Berger Canada late last month.

The German-based contractor won the $100 million contract and started construction in late 2004.

It used a recruitment agency to import about 30 temporary workers with expertise in tunnel-boring equipment from the Philippines.

Work on the project was suspended by Bilfinger Berger in January 2008, due to a conflict with Metro Vancouver about the safety of underground workers. Metro Vancouver later fired the contractor after they were unable to come to an understanding about when and how the work should proceed.

The union representing the workers is hoping they can get back to work.

“We support Bilfinger Berger in returning to the job and completing the twin tunnels. We are not taking sides in the dispute,” said Mark Olsen, business manager for the Construction and Specialized Workers’ Union (CSWU) Local 1611.

“Nonetheless, we want to make sure we protect our members, both Canadian and temporary foreign workers, and get all of them back to work.”

Local 1611 would like their workers to complete the job under the multi-party collective agreement, which also includes the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115 and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

However, the CSWU is also looking at alternatives because the dispute between Metro Vancouver and Bilfinger Berger has dragged on for so long.

“Everybody who worked on the job is looking for work and we are trying to get all the guys out to other jobs,” said Dean Homewood, business representative for the CSWU.

“For the guys with the temporary work permits there is an extra stumbling block. The government and Service Canada say how easy it is to bring workers in the country, but for these people, it has not been quick.”

According to Homewood, the union tried to get work for the TFWs, but they can’t work for anyone else unless a company applies for a new Labour Market Opinion (LMO).

An LMO assesses the potential impact that hiring a foreign worker will have on Canada’s labour market.

The union also tried to find work for the TFWs with Bilfinger Berger at the Golden Ears Bridge project.

However, they can’t automatically switch to the new job, because immigration considers the company doing the work, a completely different company.

“The visas only allow them to work for one employer (Bilfinger) in one location (the twin tunnels project),” said District of North Vancouver Councilor Bob Fearnley.

Given this situation, he said that the TFWs have been forced to live off their savings or the charity of the Filipino community.

Metro Vancouver is talking with two of the unsuccessful bidders on the original tender, Peter Kiewit Sons and Frontier-Kemper Constructors.

“Metro Vancouver is looking for a new contractor and will insist that they (the TFWs) get the first call to work with the employer at the tunnel project,” said Fearnley.

The CSWU is also insisting that the TFWs get first crack at working on this project under a new contractor.

“Failing the return of Bilfinger Berger we are working hard with the GVRD (Metro Vancouver) councilors to encourage whatever contractor is successful to apply the collective agreement and make sure the same workers finish the job,” said Olsen.

Being left in limbo in a foreign country, without any means of earning an income is only one of the problems these workers have had to endure in Canada.

According to Fearnley, when the TFWs first arrived in North Vancouver to work, they were provided with poor quality housing and charged excessive rents.

“When we went and saw the conditions they were in, we found eight guys in one apartment, with one bathroom,” said Fearnley. “There were four people in a bigger bedroom, two in a smaller bedroom and two in the living room. Cold food was delivered once a day.”

The Northshore News reported that $817.14, which was about half of the employee’s wages, was being deducted by the recruitment company JadCan, for the provision of accommodations, meals, travel to and from the work site, and a management fee.

The situation was resolved with the intervention of Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, who was able to get some of the men out of their contracts and into proper living spaces.

“We have a foreign company that has come into Canada, employed temporary foreign workers and have not treated them properly,” said Fearnley.

“The construction industry should demand that if foreign companies come into Canada, they should follow the same rules as Canadian companies.”

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