Unions rally against imported workers for new bridge - By Al Irwin, Black Press, Maple Ridge News
Wayne Peppard, the executive director of the B.C. and Yukon Building and Construction Trades Council, said the import labour approval has been granted on a 'prediction' that there will be a labour shortage.
'It is a departure from the normal practice [where a company] has to prove there is a shortage of Canadians [workers], then make the application.
Peppard says the Building and Construction Trades Council and the Ironworkers Local 97 will be making a presentation to the responsible federal ministers seeking assurances 'that temporary workers can not be used to push down wage and working conditions, and that the [employment] of foreign workers not be exploitive.'