British Columbia carpenters have voted to establish a new Canadian construction union and break away from their U.S.-based international union. The 5,000 members of the Construction, Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (CMAW) have voted by a margin of 76 per cent to separate from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners (UBCJ).
VANCOUVER
Carpenters in British Columbia have voted to establish a new Canadian construction union and break away from their U.S.-based international union.
The 5,000 members of the Construction, Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (CMAW) have voted by a margin of 76 per cent to separate from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners (UBCJ).
The CMAW, which represents the majority of unionized carpenters in B.C., voted to approve a B.C. Labour Board report on the terms of separation from the UBCJ, headquartered in Washington, D.C.
“This brings a long struggle for Canadian unionism in construction to a conclusion,” said Jan Noster, president of the CMAW.
“We have gained our freedom at great cost, but it is absolutely worth it to have a democratic union in our own hands. Construction workers need a Canadian union on an industrial model, and now they have CMAW, as that union.”
“This settlement is historic for Canadian construction workers,” agreed Dave Coles, national president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP).
“B.C. carpenters as of today are a Canadian union with a model of all-employee organizing that we believe is the way of the future for workers in the Canadian construction industry.”
The BCLRB recommendations that allow CMAW members to break their ties with the international union also require the B.C. carpenters to pay the UBCJ $6 million. Nester said that he believes the payment is a small price to pay for independence. Both CMAW and UBCJ will have the right to represent carpenters in B.C., although more than 95 per cent of carpenter certifications in B.C. are held by CMAW.
The CMAW also represents industrial shop workers and shipyard workers in the Lower Mainland and school board workers in British Columbia’s interior. The union is affiliated with the 150,000-member CEP. Several years ago, the CMAW entered into a reciprocity agreement that would allow B.C. and Quebec members to work in the other province.
The CMAW has been able to recruit and supply a significant amount of workers from the FTQ (roughly translated as the Workers Federation of Quebec), who are skilled and trained.
Nester said that a lot has happened in the last few years to reach this point, so it is important to clarify who they are and what they are planning to do.
“We are the old B.C. carpenters and we are affiliated with the CEP. We are independent with our own constitution and rules. We have a relationship with the FTQ-Construction. These guys are all formally international building trade affiliates, who broke away and have their own union in Quebec,” Noster said. “We are not going after other building trades. Our plan is to go after the 80 per cent of the industry that is non-union. The plan is to organize carpenters and supply trades on a wall-to-wall basis.”
The outgoing president of the B.C. Provincial Council of Carpenters said his organization’s focus is changing.
“Now we can turn our attention to building our Canadian union,” said Tony Heisterkamp.
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