Supports bridge blockade

I support what the (Splatsin First Nation and Splatsin Development Corporation) are doing by blocking the construction on the R.W. Bruhn Bridge in Sicamous.

(The companies doing the work) have not followed the guidelines that were set out to employ First Nations workers, women, LGBQT+ and local residents. They did this on the Salmon Arm West project as well and are now doing the same thing on the bridge project.

The BCIB and the Ministry of Transportation have turned a blind eye to following the guidelines that were set out years ago by the provincial government to ensure these people would have a chance at working on these huge local government projects.

The main contractor hires all its own workers who are from out of town and do not meet the requirements that were set to ensure that this unfair practice is not allowed.

If they can’t meet the requirements of the project, they should be terminated and have a contractor that will. There are a lot of other things regarding union agreements and wages that are not meeting the standards set out by the union and the BCIB, (such as) non-union trucks and employees working on union sites.

Any time this is addressed, the contractor and the BCIB denies it.

This is a way bigger issue than the protesters just blocking construction on the bridge. They deserve to have a fair opportunity to work on the project as it was implemented years ago.

Pat Labrecque