1

Construction industry reform off, then on again

After announcing that Bill 69, the Labour Relations Amendment Act (Construction Industry), 2000 (reported in “Ontario announces amendments to construction industry provisions of Labour Relations Act on our Publications page) would not receive third reading, the Labour Minister reversed field on November 1, 2000, filing a motion to send the Bill back to a Standing Committee “to deal with outstanding competitiveness issues in the industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) sectors”.

In a news release issued on October 16, 2000, the Ministry of Labour blamed the ICI sector unions for undermining a consensus that had been reached during the consultation process. Now, the Minister states that the government is “going to propose an amendment that would, if passed, remove general contractors outside of the broader Toronto area from working agreements they signed decades ago with the building trades unions”. The Minister’s statement indicated that the proposed amendment “is the very deal the building trades unions committed to and now are unable to fulfil”.

For further information, please contact J.D. Sharp at (613) 563-7660, Extension 233.