CLR Connector Message from CLR’s President
We are pleased to share your October edition of the CLR CONNECTOR.
The Fall season started with a few exciting events, one of them being CLR’s 53rd AGM and Conference. It was great to see our members and guests and to spend several days networking, learning, and having a good time together.
As we collected the results of our post-AGM survey, we learned that a majority of those attendees that responded enjoyed the event overall, including both the educational component and the entertainment. The session by the business and technology visionary Leonard Brody was well received, ranked “excellent” by 71% of our respondents. The discussion panels “Recruiting for the Future”, from both the union and the employer/contractor perspectives, were evaluated as “excellent” or “very good” by the majority of those who took the survey. Many indicated a high level of satisfaction with the Friday dance night and the band, as well as Saturday activities. We will make sure that next year’s AGM in Victoria will provide you with the same – or even better – level of enjoyment and opportunities to unwind.
The next long-awaited event that took place recently, was the Conference organized by the National Construction Labour Relations Alliance (NCLRA) in Las Vegas. We are thankful to our sponsors who supported this great education and networking opportunity. It was amazing to get together with industry peers from across the country and to discuss the most relevant news, trends, and challenges that the construction world is facing these days.
CLR staff and some of our directors participated in the recent BC Building Trades (BCBTU) convention in Victoria in September. Especially in a year consumed mainly with bargaining new collective agreements, it is always enjoyable to network with our union partners in a different setting where we can engage in productive discussions and focus on building even stronger relationships. We were pleased to co-host a reception for BC MLA’s with the BCBTU. The event was well attended by BC MLA’s from both the government and the opposition and during the conference, we had the opportunity to thank Premier John Horgan for his service to the province before he retires this fall.
We are very pleased and satisfied to announce that the Labour Market Study project through which many of you participated, is now complete. This strategic initiative requested by our construction employer members, and carried out through the support of the Province, the industry, and academia, collected some invaluable insights from both the employer and the union perspectives and offers a substantial set of analytics, findings, and recommendations. At this time, the report needs final approval from the province before we can circulate it so, please watch for further communication from the CLR when we will share a link to the report.
This has been a very busy year for negotiations. The CLR-BCBCBTU bargaining process is well underway and talks are continuing through the fall and into next year. A number of non-BCBCBTU settlements have also been concluded this year.
Please, explore the following updates prepared by our strategic partners at the Construction Industry Rehabilitation Plan (CIRP) and B.C. Infrastructure & Benefits Board (BCIB) – we hope you will find their information valuable as we aim at sharing their content with you on a regular basis.
As usual, we welcome any of your comments, suggestions, and ideas – please, tell us what you would like to hear about in future editions of CONNECTOR, by sending your recommendations or requests to Maria at marias@clra-bc.com.
Warmest regards,
Ken McCormack, President and CEO