NDP taking ‘step backwards’ by ending Tory ban on big-project labour deals, contractors association says By: Danielle Da Silva Posted: 6:58 PM CST Wednesday, Mar. 6, 2024 Last Modified: 7:17 PM CST Wednesday, Mar. 6, 2024 Updates

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The Kinew government opened the spring sitting of the Manitoba legislature Wednesday with a bill to repeal a ban on project labour agreements championed by the Progressive Conservatives.

Labour Minister Malaya Marcelino said Bill 7 will give public-sector entities the option to require contractors bidding on infrastructure projects to employ a unionized workforce.

It will also allow them to use project labour agreements, which could require contractors to pay prevailing wages under a collective agreement or for non-unionized workers to become union members or pay dues as a condition of obtaining work.

“We were the only jurisdiction in Canada that had this unnecessary and foolish ban,” Marcelino said after introducing the bill Wednesday afternoon. She was backed by members of the Manitoba Building Trades, who watched the bill’s introduction from the gallery.

The proposed legislation repeals The Public Sector Construction Projects (Tendering) Act, which became law in May 2021 under the former Tory government.

It prohibited public-sector organizations from issuing tenders for construction projects that require a successful bidder to employ unionized workers on the project.

“It’s going to mean good-paying jobs for Manitobans across the province. It’s going to mean that we’re going to be able to have these projects done — major projects done — on time and within budget, and it’s going to mean workforce development for different folks to get their apprenticeships and work experience,” Marcelino said.

Premier Wab Kinew said provinces with project labour agreements put “people in their jurisdictions to work.”

“We think Manitoba jobs should go to Manitobans. When we have these agreements in place, it means that’s going to happen more and more often in our province,” he said.

The proposed repeal was met with immediate backlash from industry.

“This is a step backwards, quite frankly. The repeal of this bill will have a negative impact on all of our members on a go-forward basis,” Merit Contractors Association president Yvette Milner said.

The association represents open-shop contractors with 170 companies employing about 6,000 workers. The act up for repeal represented choice, competition and promoted open and fair tendering, she said.

It appears the NDP government is assuming “the only way you can get a fair wage is if you work for a union,” Milner said.

Rather, open-shop companies pay very fair wages, offer benefits packages, follow the same safety and health legislation and are invested in workforce development, she said.

Employees should not be forced to work under a collective agreement, which can drive up project costs paid by taxpayers, she said.

“All employers should have an opportunity to work on projects without having a labour model imposed on them based on the ideology of government,” Milner said.

Over the past eight years, Milner said contractors have not had a problem with PLAs with the provincial government. However, not many critical infrastructure projects were built in that time, she added.

Examples of major public infrastructure projects subject to a PLA include the Red River floodway expansion and the Keeyask generating station. Milner said the association will be watching to see how the government uses the agreements going forward.

Interim opposition leader Wayne Ewasko said repealing the act will have the effect of reducing the number of contractors who bid on projects.

“The best bang for the dollars that Manitobans can ask for is to get as many businesses or contractors bidding on these jobs,” Ewasko said. “When you start to narrow that focus I think it ends up costing Manitobans more.”

The NDP government has promised to build three new emergency rooms in Winnipeg over an eight-year period, starting at Victoria Hospital, should the government deliver on its election promise to add 300 more nurses in Winnipeg within two years.

“When we build the new Victoria emergency room, we’re going to see people who live in that part of the province put to work,” Kinew said. “These big projects that we’re going to invest in in the coming years, we want to ensure that there’s good-paying jobs.”

While the government isn’t mandating public-sector entities to use a unionized workforce on major builds, Marcelino said PLAs are used by governments in many jurisdictions to deliver on priorities.

“And certainly, it’s a priority of our premier and our government to make sure that those jobs go locally,” Marcelino said.

Kinew said the government is inclined to use PLAs in its own tendering for upcoming major infrastructure projects.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca