My name is Jim Smith. I am Canadian vice-president for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
This bill jeopardizes many gains that the government has made in relation to projects we build for you. I would like to explain to you how the construction free market economy works, because you are about to interfere with it.
In the construction sector, upon which your economic action plan hinged, project owners purchase construction. Companies like Suncor, Bruce Power, Irving, and Nalcor decide to build a project and then let tenders. Union and non-union contractors compete. The most competitive bid gets the job. This is our free market.
Many happily unionized contractors welcome the union in their workplace and see the value proposition in having a unionized workforce.
What gives union contractors a competitive advantage are the well-trained, productive, work-ready, and safe employees we provide. We provide this service at a cost to the union, which this bill will force us to disclose. This bill interferes in the free market because it uses the Parliament of Canada to force us to reveal our contractors' business advantages to their competitors. More than an interference in the free market, Bill C-377 and the onerous costs associated with it, whether it's reporting or compliance, is nothing more than a tax on unionized contractors in order to tip the scales in favour of their non-union competition. Their non-union competition is here today at the table, but our partners, the unionized contractors, have not been invited.
How is this a tax? The dues our members choose to pay come from their paycheques as deductions. They choose to pay this money to belong to the guild rather than going it on their own in the industry. Many non-union workers have exercised their free choice not to belong to the union and not to pay this tax as dues.
The costs associated with compiling, reporting, and revealing our trade secrets to our competition will result in a higher tax on our members or a lesser service to our contractors. In either case, the level playing field is tipped. Our members' salaries are paid for by our contractors, so the tax will be passed along to them. How conservative is that?
Interference in the construction free market is hardly a notion that this government should entertain. Those who speak here today in support of this bill are attempting to use the Parliament of Canada as a tool to get a leg-up on their competition. How conservative is that?
I mentioned that our contractors recognize the value-added propositions that construction unions add to their business. You may wonder what exactly these are. Let me briefly explain.
We spend $250 million a year on training for our members. This ensures they are the safest, most productive, and most highly skilled workers in the industry. Our unionized contractors require fewer man-hours of work than their open shop contractors. This money comes from dues; it's money the government does not have to spend to train people for employment. We prepare people for the jobs the Government of Canada is creating.
One of the most important value-added benefits we provide to our contractors and to the industries that depend on them is our hiring hall. This is an archaic term that few understand, but in today's world it means that we provide a nationwide infrastructure and membership database that can be accessed by contractors at a moment's notice. We manage the peaks and valleys of employment in our industry so the government doesn't have to.