Horgan defends cost of union-only construction mandate
British Columbians worried that the province’s new union-only construction rules will drive up costs should wait and see how Metro Vancouver’s new Pattullo Bridge replacement project turns out, says Premier John Horgan.
Horgan defended his new project labour agreements, which mandate workers join unions on the $1.4-billion Pattullo project, as well as the $550-million highway widening project from Kamloops to Alberta, saying the changes will train more apprentices, provide certainty on costs and prevent strikes or labour disputes.
“I know that the opponents of project labour agreements have put out significant numbers concerning what the consequences will be,” Horgan told reporters at the legislature on Monday.
“I’ll remind you that we’ve got two projects underway now, the Pattullo replacement project — for which tenders have been put out [and] we’ll see what comes back — and the four-laning of Highway 1. We should get the tenders back and we should start these projects before we start criticizing them.”
The Pattullo replacement will take until 2023 to complete.
“If we’re spending a billion and a half dollars on a bridge, we should be getting something out of it other than the bridge,” said Horgan, who argued the labour rules will favour hiring local workers, Aboriginals, women and set a 25 per cent benchmark for apprenticeship spots.
Horgan said the use of project labour agreements goes back to major B.C. Hydro dams built under Social Credit premier W.A.C. Bennett.
The Opposition Liberals have called the changes a sweetheart deal for the NDP’s major union supporters and discriminates against the almost 80 per cent of the construction sector that is not unionized.
“It’s pretty clear that the government has a preferred list of groups that they want to be receiving these contracts, and they are coincidentally the same groups that have given millions and millions of dollars to the NDP,” said Liberal MLA John Martin.
Horgan denied any favouritism, pointing out his government’s ban on corporate and union donations prevents any direct benefit from flowing back to his party.
“No longer can you buy access. No longer can you buy favours,” he said.
Critics have warned the NDP’s new mandatory union construction rules could lead to cost overruns of as much as $4.8 billion on the $25.6 billion in government’s three-year capital plan, according to a letter sent to Horgan by a group of nine business and independent contractor organizations. However, that estimate assumes an approximate 40 per cent cost increase on projects and is based upon a 1990s report.
Transportation Minister Claire Trevena has said project labour agreements could add four to seven per cent to project costs.
In the case of the Pattullo, that could mean $100 million. The government has said the amount is lower because it only applies to construction-related costs and not materials or overhead.