Bruce Power, trades union sign labour deal

Bruce Power and the Ontario Building and Construction Trades are joining forces through a new collaboration agreement, signalling a shared commitment to the ongoing role of Bruce Power nuclear in the province and recognizing the strategic importance of the company to thousands of tradespeople.

“A strong role for clean, affordable, reliable nuclear power will help sustain a highly-trained workforce and a robust, diversified economy, which is important to communities across Ontario and around the Bruce Power site in particular,” said Patrick Dillon, Business Manager and Secretary Treasurer of the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario.

“The Bruce Power site is a source of thousands of jobs for our members but our relationship goes beyond that as we both share a number of similar strategic goals.”

The Bruce site is home to a number of building and construction trades including boilermakers, carpenters, electricians, insulators, ironworkers and rodmen, labourers, millwrights, operating engineers, painters, pipefitters/plumbers, sheet metal and roofers and teamsters. Over the last 14 years, Bruce Power developed a strong working relationship with these trades, including the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, with millions of hours of tradesperson work being carried-out on the Bruce site.

“In order to maintain eight units of operation that currently provide over 30 per cent of Ontario’s electricity we will need to continue to work closely together to carry out millions of hours of trades work,” said Duncan Hawthorne, President and CEO of Bruce Power. “This agreement will help lay the groundwork for a successful future for all of us but more importantly builds on the very progressive relationship we have had over the last 14 years and outlines a number of key goals we look forward to achieving together.”

The Collaboration Agreement focuses on the following areas:

• • • Continuing to deliver strong safety performance through the shared value of ‘Safety First.’
    • Ensure the necessary availability of skilled trades in the short-, medium- and long term by promoting recruitment, training and apprenticeships.
    • Work together collaboratively to ensure the successful execution of projects on the site.
    • Increase the diversity within the trades with a particular focus on Aboriginal people, women and visible minorities.
    • Create opportunities for former military service members to find careers within the skilled trades.
    • Ensure nuclear power continues to play an important role as part of a reliable, clean, affordable and balanced supply mix in the province.

The Provincial Building & Construction Trades Council of Ontario is an organization that represents 150,000 construction workers.

Bruce Power operates the world’s largest operating nuclear generating facility and is the source of roughly 30 per cent of Ontario’s electricity. The company’s site in Tiverton, Ontario is home to eight CANDU reactors, each one capable of generating enough low-cost, reliable, safe and clean electricity to meet the annual needs of a city the size of Hamilton. Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is an all-Canadian partnership among Borealis Infrastructure Management (a division of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System), TransCanada, the Power Workers’ Union and the Society of Energy Professionals. A majority of Bruce Power’s employees are also owners in the business.