A group of insulators gathered on the steps of the Alberta Legislature Monday morning to send a message to the provincial government.
Local 110 — Heat & Frost Insulators said it is fighting for fair collective bargaining.
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The union said since the late 1980s the insulators agreement has been tied to all other building trades — which the union said limits its bargaining for its 2,000 members.
“We’re blue collar workers. We have those jobs that sustain households, but we’re to the point where we’re losing conditions,” Local 110 business manager Kevin Lecht said.
“The reason we’re losing conditions is because we don’t have a fair way to bargain.”
The workers said Monday was day 1,210 of lobbying the government to remove sections of the construction code.
“When 75 per cent of the trades ratify we wind up in this little section where we usually wind up in binding arbitration and any union that winds up in binding arbitration usually winds up with no vote for their membership and being forced into condition that really don’t show the market or what we do,” Lecht said.
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The union said it is not backing one political party leading up to the 2019 provincial election.
They have met with members of the NDP, United Conservative Party and Alberta Party.
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