April 19, 2011

VIDEO: Construction contractors and unions face labour challenges

During a recent conference on labour relations, a panel of construction industry leaders talked about the challenges facing unions and contractors today.

Bill Nicholls, business manager and secretary-treasurer of International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 46, said bargaining units such as IUPAT are facing competition from other organizations, such as industrial unions.

He made his comments at the fifth bi-annual conference on construction labour relations, hosted and produced at the Old Mill in Toronto by Insight Information.

Larry Macdonald, senior vice-president at Black and McDonald, said both management and unions need to understand that today's youth are more educated and analytical than those of previous generations.

Meanwhile, Richard Lyall, a director at the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario, said another challenge is a reduced emphasis on trades training at secondary schools.

For more coverage of the fifth bi-annual conference on construction labour relations please see:

Random drug and alcohol tests the ‘coming wave’ for Canadian construction

Electrical labour protocol transformed bargaining

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