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Hamilton Payoffs: Building Trades vs. Taxpayers of Hamilton

Working Families Watch Director Anas Melhem spoke to Hamilton City Council on September 12, 2007 on the issue of Building Trades Council affiliated unions getting political payoffs and protection from the McGuinty Liberals. In Hamilton, as the news reports below show, just one construction union local is essentially holding the city to ransom.

According to the Hamilton Spectator, Hamilton City taxpayers face a whopping increase of up to $500-million dollars in increased construction costs over the next eight years because the McGuinty Liberals refuse to make an important but small and technical amendment to the Ontario Labour Relations Act.

As detailed in the Spectator, the Carpenters Local 18 have used technicalities to exclude any competing union or non-union contractor from even bidding on work that those contractors formerly did for the city of Hamilton. The costs of this are enormous.

This incredible story of Building Trades Council affiliated union abuse of the system is detailed in this Official City of Hamilton staff report.

Working Families Watch is making this a key example of the political payoffs that the McGuinty Liberals are giving their Building Trades Council affiliated union friends. Without this protection from above, Local 18 would not feel able to exhibit the arrogance and indifference it is now showing to the taxpayers of Hamilton.

Working Families Watch also strongly supports the efforts of Hamilton City Council to get all the provincial parliament candidates in the City of Hamilton to support its efforts on this issue.

We are devoting this page to detailing the fight by average citizens against this abuse. If you have more information, documents or links, please send it to us at info@WorkingFamiliesWatch.ca

News Reports:

Time to call in the carpenters

Editorial by Robert Howard in the Hamilton Spectator

September 17, 2007

City wants candidates' views on union monopoly
Hamilton Spectator, September 13, 2007

Union certification nails city to the wall
Hamilton Spectator, September 7, 2007

Union hold on carpentry could 'shut down city'
Hamilton Spectator, September 7, 2007

Report and Motions:

Motion M132 to have the City of Toronto Support the City of Hamilton on Labour Act Changes

Toronto City Councillor Karen Stintz, September 26, 2007

Report on Carpenters Local 18 Certification
By Hamilton City Staff

Speeches:

Delegation to the City of Hamilton Council
September 12, 2007