This Labour Day, Monday, Sept. 7, executive director of the Andrew Mercier will be working. It may be an annual holiday that celebrates workers, but he has work to do.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a day I鈥檒l be taking off,鈥� Mercier remarked.
For Mercier, a Langley resident who took over as the just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the day will give him a chance to catch up on some of the non-COVID-19 matters that have had to be put on the back burner during the current pandemic.
It has been a hectic time for the council, which has been pressing for improved protective measures for construction workers during the pandemic.
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One very bad example of the situation that Mercier likes to cite concerns a work site, early on in the pandemic, where the sanitation was something less than an afterthought.
鈥淎 hand-washing station was a two-by-four duct-taped to a hose, and a bar of soap,鈥� Mercier recalled.
He credits WorkSafe BC for taking the matter seriously, assigning hundreds of inspectors to enforce standards at all sites in the province to make sure construction workers were safe on the job.
鈥淭hey (WorkSafe) reacted with lightning speed,鈥� Mercier commented.
As a result, he believes, the B.C. construction industry as a whole managed to avoid the widespread shutdowns seen in Ontario and Quebec.
鈥淵ou had workers staying home, you had projects shutting down [in those provinces],鈥� Mercier told the Langley Advance Times.
鈥淭he difference is policy,鈥� he said.
Without the quick response, 鈥渨e would have had an industry shutdown,鈥� Mercier added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a testament to the people at WorkSafe BC.鈥�
At big sites, such as the LNG Canada and Site C Dam construction projects, where workers live together in camps, crews were screened before traveling to the camps.
When some at Site C showed symptoms after arriving, a trailer was set aside for isolation.
Some sites did close down altogether, like the Kemano tunneling project, where there was no way to run tunnel-boring machines without people being in close proximity to each other.
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Other industries in B.C. have also benefited from the attention to coronavirus safety, with WorkSafe applying lessons learned from the construction sector, Mercier added.
So has the non-union construction sector, which is responsible for most of the residential projects in Langley and other B.C. communities.
Mercier said when it comes to safety, it doesn鈥檛 matter whether a worker is under a collective agreement.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 care if you鈥檙e union or non-union, call us [if you have a safety concern],鈥� Mercier said.
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His message to workers on Labour Day is one of gratitude.
鈥淚 just want to thank the working people at Langley, the people who do the hard work, and keep the lights on, and grocery stockers,鈥� Mercier commented.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e the real heroes.鈥�
BC Building Trades Council represents 25 local unions belonging to 13 international unions. There are approximately 35,000 unionized construction workers in B.C.
dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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