One way of tackling worker precarious-
ness is by promoting the trades to young
people. An apprenticeship is a great way
to ‘earn-while-you-learn’ which sets young
people on a viable career path. Apprentic-
es earn a sliding scale percentage of their
ultimate salary while training, which offers
a huge advantage.
“An apprenticeship is a job,” says Dillon.
“We need to support employers who in-
vest in their workforce by investing in
training. The larger the Underground the
economy is, the more pressure there is in
fulfilling Ontario’s future workforce needs
for construction. The pace of technological
change and other forms of innovation re-
quire strong investments to bring people
up to speed on the latest techniques to
maximize productivity and competitive-
ness.”
Organized labour is at the forefront of se-
curing and defending middle-class working
conditions for people, and the Provincial
Building and Construction Trades Council
of Ontario helps defend those conditions.
A vital player in the construction industry,
the Council continues to work on behalf of
its members.
AUGUST 2017
H
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