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District 3
Interior feeling the effects of the construction boom (October 2007)  By Brad Gerow, Member Representative It has been a good year for members and a good change for me, going from working on trucks to doing the member rep job. All our companies have been kept busy finishing off projects and getting a great start on this year’s projects. Emil Anderson Construction has completed the four-laning of the last two-lane section of the Coquihalla connector between Merritt and Kelowna. Good job everyone. In Kelowna, Emil Anderson has many projects on the go, from the Campbell Road interchange at the south end of the new bridge to all their subdivision work. You can get a good idea of the economic expansion in the area from all the subdivision work that is under way. Geopac has been busy in the Okanagan again this year. It has been working on the new South Okanagan Event Centre and several condo projects in Penticton, and on a number of new apartment and condo sites in Kelowna. Western Industrial Contractors, going strong in the Penticton area for a couple of seasons now, is also working on the Penticton event centre. Canpar in Grand Forks has had a rough go of it this year with the rise of the Canadian dollar to levels we haven’t seen in a long time. The crews have been hit hard by the decline in orders. Plant slowdowns and a couple of weeks off were required, but at the moment everyone is working. We are waiting for Highway 1 work to be announced. We need action from the federal government so the provincial government can do its part. Work on the road re-alignment near the Tobiano golf resort on Kamloops Lake has been in full swing since Brentwood Enterprises got the go-ahead from the government a few months ago. This is an impressive earth moving job. A scraper crosses the highway with earth every couple of minutes. Price Brothers Contracting and Richard Salle Contracting are both subcontracting to the Brentwood project to keep that dirt moving. Dawson Construction is working across the highway and doing the road work within the resort. Everyone is making excellent progress and should be proud of the work being done. District 3 members are proving once again that they are “Simply the Best.” Brother Gary Kinnear and I have been busy with various stages of negotiations for different companies. In Kamloops, we are starting to bargain with James Western Star. There have been a number of changes at the company including the departure of the service manager and a few long-term mechanics. We are hopeful that the new service manager will bring new and innovative ideas for how to once again make James Western Star one of the best places to work. The contract with Peace Country Freightliner is also up for renegotiation this fall and we are looking forward to dealing with the new owners and management for this round of bargaining. We are trying to achieve a first contract for the members working with Freightliner of Kelowna. We have hit a rocky spot. We all know what to do when you hit a rocky spot; you just move it. The members are staying united, maintaining a strong position and clearly stating their goals. Brother Kinnear and the crew at Gable Construction deserve special recognition for getting out from under a subpar agreement signed by the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC). Congratulations on a great job! If any of you have friends or family members who are working non-union or under a CLAC agreement, talk to them about the advantages of working for a real trade union. Invite them to come and see us or we can come to them. Congratulations to the elected pension trustees as well as all nominees of our Executive Board who were put in by acclamation. In closing, keep up the exceptional work and stay safe. |
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