THURSDAY, JUNE 05, 2003

VANCOUVER….The Executive Director of the Building & Construction Trades Council, representing 35,000 BC construction union members, has written to the President of the BC Chamber of Commerce asking for a meeting to talk over the Chamber’s recent call for the repeal of anti-scab legislation.

According to a report in the Kamloops Daily News on May 26th, Chamber President John Winter has called on the provincial government to amend the labour code so that business is “able to do basic things such as hire replacement workers.”

In his letter to John Winter the Building Trades Director, Wayne Peppard, points out that stable labour relations are an important component of a healthy economy. “These kinds of provocative remarks only serve to polarize labour relations in B.C.,” Peppard said in reference to his letter. “This is bad for employers and workers. You cannot have a healthy economy without a stable labour environment,” Peppard said.

Peppard is looking forward to sitting down with John Winter to clarify the business leader’s comments and explore ways to enhance co-operation between employers and workers.

For further information contact 

the BCYT-BCTC office:  604-291-9020

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