CANADA BRITISH COLUMBIA WITH MULTI BILLION DOLLARS LNG PROJECTS COMING THERE WILL BE NEED OF 60000 CONSTRUCTION WORKERS BY 2020 IN THE PROVINCE 25TH FEB.2014 The Christy Clark government is predicting an unprecedented bonanza of new jobs as it bets heavily on liquefied natural gas to push the province’s economy into hyperdrive. Finance Minister Mike de Jong said last week the government still hopes three multibillion-dollar LNG plants will be up and running by 2020, a feat that would require nearly 12,000 construction workers, according to one analysis. As many as 60,000 construction workers may be needed if the industry really takes off, the government has said. Where will all the workers come from? The government insists British Columbians will be “first in line” for LNG jobs. But skeptical critics see another group butting in. “Their clear intention is to bypass local workers and accommodate foreign workers,” alleged NDP jobs critic Harry Bains. As proof, Bains points to the government’s efforts to help foreign workers get accredited in British Columbia to work on LNG projects. The Ministry of Natural Gas Development has an “action plan” to get the credentials of foreign workers quickly recognized and certified in B.C., according to a request-for-proposal posted on a government website. And last week’s provincial budget cut spending on colleges and universities, at the very time colleges should be ramping up training programs for British Columbians to land LNG jobs, Bains said. Rich Coleman, the cabinet minister responsible for the LNG plan, said British Columbians won’t be left behind in the natural-gas gold rush. “The objective is to have everybody in B.C. who wants a job will have the opportunity to pursue a job,” he said. “It will be B.C. first, and then it’s basically the rest of Canada.” He pointed to the government’s working group on the issue with the province’s labour unions, normally antagonistic toward the governing Liberals. “It’s been a very positive discussion so far,” said Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour. “But I’m always concerned about temporary foreign workers because they’re often exploited. Our goal is to ensure foreign workers are brought in as a last resort, not as a first choice.” Coleman said B.C. couldn’t fill all the job vacancies even if it tried. “If you took every kid coming out of school and got them into a trade you still wouldn’t have enough,” he said. Meanwhile, it’s only foreign workers who possess the skills for some specialized work, he argued. “For instance, we don’t have the skill sets in certain types of welding in Canada for these projects,” Coleman said. “The best welders for these are actually from the Philippines.” Having enough workers in place to build LNG plants and infrastructure is crucial for success, Coleman said, noting a shortage of LNG workers in Australia, where labour costs soared and projects went overbudget as a result. “But we have more labour flexibility than Australia because we’re on a continent with more than 500 million people,” he said, adding there was “no question” the industry will be looking to foreign workers to get up and running. Sinclair said the working group on LNG jobs includes representatives from the energy companies, unions, First Nations, colleges and the government. It’s expected to issue a report with recommendations this spring. When Christy Clark set up the group in September, labour leaders recalled how she often wore a hard hat for election-campaign photo ops last May. “Christy Clark was the only leader that wore a hard hat, and I can assure you what I’m trying to do is put a couple of union stickers on there,” said Tom Sigurdson, head of the B.C. Building Trades Council. De Jong, the finance minister, noted last week that just because the government isn’t pouring millions of dollars of new spending into LNG job training doesn’t mean B.C. workers won’t get trained for jobs. “We’re not going to ask the taxpayers to shoulder this burden on their own,” said de Jong, insisting private-sector companies need to do their part to train local workers. But Bains, the NDP critic, said the private sector can’t meet the demand for trained workers right now, never mind when massive new projects are launched. “The private sector has been complaining for 10 years they don’t have enough skilled workers,” Bains said. “If they had the capacity to train these workers they would have already trained them.” Bains said British Columbians should be wary of a government and industry that claim they can’t find enough local workers, because there might be an ulterior motive for bringing in foreigners. “Some would argue that it’s to keep wages low,” he said. “We should train our own people instead.” Jim Sinclair agreed, and while the unions and the Liberals are playing nice for now, things could get nasty if foreign workers start landing LNG jobs ahead of qualified British Columbians. TOP 10 LNG CONSTRUCTION JOBS 1. Construction trades helpers and labourers (5,665) 2. Steamfitters and pipefitters (1,640) 3. Welders (925) 4. Concrete finishers (665) 5. Heavy equipment operators (615) 6. Carpenters (including scaffolders) (555) 7. Truck drivers (505) 8. Purchasing agents and officers (485) 9. Gas fitters (445) 10. Crane operators (345)
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 04:53:04 +0000
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