Diversity hiring target too low for Winnipeg mega project: advocates

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This article was published 31/07/2023 (853 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some advocates fear an effort to ensure diverse groups of employees are hired to help construct a City of Winnipeg mega project will fall far short of its goal.

Last year, council approved a call to require companies bidding on all future construction contracts for the north end sewage treatment plant upgrade include set targets to employ workers who are Indigenous or from other “under-represented groups.”

In a request for proposal to design the plant’s biosolids facilities, the second phase of the three-phase upgrade, the city notes a “minimum threshold” that would have such employees perform at least five per cent of the total “skilled labour hours” during construction.

While the city says this number only presents a “draft” starting point for negotiations with industry, social procurement advocates who consulted the city on the measure said they were shocked to see the bar set so low.

“The five per cent is incredibly regressive and not reflective of the labour market… It’s kind of a slap in the face,” said Sean Hogan, executive director of BUILD Inc., a social enterprise contractor and training program for people facing employment barriers.

Hogan called the target “embarrassing,” stating there are more than enough workers available to set it at 25 per cent.

Tanya Palson, executive director of Manitoba Building Trades, agreed the minimum threshold should rise to at least 25 per cent.

“If you have the target at five per cent, that’s so low that it doesn’t even have to be a consideration. I don’t know any job site in Manitoba right now that doesn’t have (their workforce include) at least five per cent (of staff from) under-represented groups,” said Palson, whose association represents construction and trades unions.

The city’s definition of under-represented groups includes local employees who are Indigenous, LGBTTQ+, newcomers, women, racialized peoples, people with disabilities, people facing poverty, and veterans.

Palson said such a massive infrastructure project should be linked to social procurement outcomes, such as tailoring contracts to hire more people facing employment barriers, to get the most value for Winnipeg and its taxpayers.

“A specific motion or policy has to be put in place to make sure that (what may become) the biggest project in the city’s history is creating spaces for under-represented groups in the construction industry. (This project is) so close to a lot of the nation’s poorest postal codes and there’s opportunities for programs to bring people in and have them work multiple years… on a job site that’s right down the road from where they are living,” she said.

The chairman of council’s water and waste committee said he believes the target reflects a city goal to ensure the new requirement doesn’t reduce the number of bids, which could result in less-competitive pricing.

“We want the most competitive bidding process we can get… (But) I would like to see a higher (target) number to start with,” said Coun. Brian Mayes.

Mayes said he’d like to see the target increase to apply to at least 10 per cent of the labour hours. “At some point, you’ve got to send a signal here that you’re committed to this.”

In a written statement, a water and waste spokeswoman said this is the first time the department has tailored a contract specifically to increase job opportunities for under-represented groups, and the city plans to work with the construction industry to refine the exact requirement.

“The selected target will be a negotiated term as part of the construction phase… The (RFP) includes a draft starting point of five per cent, as there is limited information available on what the market will be able to support in terms of social procurement,” wrote Lisa Marquardson.

Marquardson called the biosolids phase of the sewage upgrade, which the city will pursue next, a “very large and complex project.”

“It is a challenge to find bidders who have the capacity and desire to take on a project of this size. We do not want to discourage bidders at this first stage,” she wrote.

The north end sewage plant upgrade is one of Winnipeg’s most expensive infrastructure projects, expected to cost at least $1.854 billion, with potential jumps to some $2.2 billion.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga