{"id":15794,"date":"2023-04-24T21:58:32","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T04:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/cca-criticizes-closed-shop-ottawa-hospital-project-agreement\/"},"modified":"2023-04-24T21:58:33","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T04:58:33","slug":"cca-criticizes-closed-shop-ottawa-hospital-project-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/cca-criticizes-closed-shop-ottawa-hospital-project-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"CCA criticizes closed-shop Ottawa Hospital project agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"

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OTTAWA \u2014 The Canadian Construction Association (CCA) has issued a statement criticizing the project labour agreement (PLA) between the Ottawa Hospital and the Unionized Building and Construction Trades of Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec.<\/p>\n

In an April 24 statement, the CCA said the Ottawa Hospital\u2019s investment of $2.8 billion in a new Civic Campus will likely cost taxpayers hundreds of millions more and leave a majority of Ottawa-area construction workers ineligible to work on the vital project.<\/p>\n

The CCA is calling for governments to roll back procurement models that restrict participation to traditional trade unions and their employers.<\/p>\n

Under the PLA, members of the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada and their affiliated union, the Christian Labour Union of Canada, among others, will be unable to bid on or participate in the project. A report by the Montreal Economic Institute stated the Ottawa Hospital\u2019s PLA will \u201cstifle competition, escalating project costs by between $168 million and $525 million,\u201d said the CCA statement. The authors of the report find it \u201cunacceptable for a public entity to make taxpayers pay more by granting exclusivity to a specific group of affiliated workers,\u201d the CCA added.<\/p>\n

The CCA pointed to British Columbia\u2019s Pattullo Bridge project and the labour requirements of the new federal clean tax credits established in Budget 2023 as other examples of agreements that discriminate against non-union construction workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Canadian Construction Association takes issue with these examples and others that either categorically exclude or strongly disadvantage one group of workers,\u201d said CCA president Mary Van Buren in the statement. \u201cWe would take a similarly forceful position if the reverse had happened and union workers had been excluded or disadvantaged.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n