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 News & Events:
Moving Forward
Challenges and Solutions for Canada’s Pipe Trades
A Message from John Telford, Director of Canadian Affairs
Most people don’t think about pipes very much, but everyone recognizes that much of our infrastructure in Canada depends on them. In many ways, that also describes the people who work in the piping industry: the pipe trades play a crucial role in the construction sector, providing vital support to the broader economy.
As the association representing qualified pipes trades people, UA Canada is equally dedicated to supporting its members, giving them a collective voice and helping to build the partnerships – with industry and government – for ongoing success.
Having been around for more than a century, UA has faced plenty of challenges. Today is no different, and we remain committed to developing effective solutions to address the current issues we face, such as demographic shifts and labour shortages.
That is why we have crafted Moving Forward, a campaign based on working with our clients, owners, and contractors, to ensure we are providing the most skilled and professional workforce to complete their projects.
Moving Forward is aimed at bringing about a cultural shift – with an emphasis on professionalism and quality throughout the pipe trades. It involves everyone from the union executive and managers to those on the shop floor; from the most seasoned professional to the apprentice just starting out in a career in the industry.
We have created a “Standard for Excellence” as the basis for Moving Forward, and will work with our representatives and membership to ensure that this standard is adopted and implemented by our local unions across Canada.
Already we have seen tremendous progress in accomplishing this cultural shift, through initiatives such as a detailed survey of our members on the state of our union, new websites promoting transparency and information, and business and leadership training programs.
UA is very proud of our membership and our work. Our motto, "We Do It Right the First Time," shows our integrity and determination to not only do our best, but with skill and expertise.
Moving Forward reinforces this dedication to excellence and partnership, ensuring a bright future for the pipe trades, our partners, and the communities we help to build.
John Telford
Director of Canadian Affairs
United Association
Dear Brothers & Sisters:
As the Director of Canadian Affairs, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time to respond to my call for action. I wanted to hear from you and you responded!
I appreciate the honest opinions, comments and recommendations that you provided and I assure you that I will do my utmost to address the few concerns we received right away.
Together we are going to grow the U.A. by creating opportunities and delivering on our promises and guarantees. I believe we need to:
- Have a clear vision of the United Association so that we can move forward together and secure more job opportunities for our members.
- Create a positive perception of the U.A. in people’s minds including our members, clients, owners and contractors.
- Increase our influence in the industry.
- Increase our membership and re-establish loyalty in the U.A.
- Increase the number of U.A. contractors and the number of clients and owners.
I have given you my thoughts. Now I need to hear yours. How do you think we can accomplish this? How can you help? Please complete the Moving Forward Feedback Form to forward your feedback.
Sincerely Yours,
John Telford,
Director of Canadian Affairs
UA Journal Article - 07.21.09
A review of the UA Journal article on the UA Canada survey. Find out more about what is wanted by UA members in Canada.
Click HERE to read the full journal article >>
Moving Forward Feedback
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2008-06-11
Thank you for your informative letter dated June 2/08. I have been a Local member for most of my working life time. I must say that union is the only way to go and I am proud to be a union member. I have had some health issues and I am now on a pension. Over the years I have seen some great plumbing and steam fitting done by our members. However, it still seems that some union workers still have a "do nothing" reputation. Unfortunately, these few feel that the union is there to protect them even if they don't work hard and give the contractor a good days work. This to me is a big item that needs changing in order to turn things around. We have to get the members to realize that they have to perform on the job. I am constantly defending my fellow brothers from the people that say we don't work hard or get anything done through the day. There has to be away that we can get the word out that we do indeed start and finish our work day in a good solid fashion. Maybe put posters up at the halls informing the members that we want to make money and so does the contractor. Just a thought!! I have worked with some great plumbers, fitters and welders from Local in Hamilton and to be honest I would love to be hanging pipe and in the trenches with my brothers again.
Please fix what you can Brother Telford, Union is the only way to work!!
Proud to be union.
Gary - UA Member - Alberta - Canada 2008-06-09
Dear Sir and Brother,
I am a member of U A Local in Saint John N.B. I am currently employed by Jacobs Industrial Services at the Irving Oil Refinery under the GPC agreement. I am currently involved in a Maintenance Excellence Program whose mandate is to design a process that will streamline maintenance at this refinery. My role is as a representative for the pipefitters and boilermakers. My concern and reason for this E-mail is that I do not know where Brother Tozer or the UA stand on this issue. I assume that Brother Tozer is aware of this program. My fellow union members keep asking me what the UA position is and I tell them I do not know. I would appreciate some feedback on this subject.
Thank you in advance,
Wayne - UA Member - New Brunswick - Canada 2008-06-17
Dear Sir & Brother,
I recently received your letter and was glad to finally see that someone in the International is trying to do something about our shrinking union pride and losing work to the non-union sector.
As a 32 year member (that’s never worked SCAB) I’ve seen our union go downhill every year. I’ve seen our own members get caught working SCAB and receive fines up to $10,000 by the E-Board, only to have that amount lowered by the International.
For a rig welder, for example, that would work out to be about 10 days work. So as you can see they don’t care if they work union or not. Lets not fool ourselves here, there are lots of rig welders working non-union. How do we catch them, I’m not sure, but when they are caught it should be an automatic dismissal from our union. Another thing is: our members working out-of-scope. I have no problem with that as long as they work with a union contractor, unfortunately that doesn’t always happen.
As you may or may not know, we have a real problem with Ironworkers taking our work, such as pipe supports, for that matter, they will take all of our work if they are not stopped. The International has to do its part in stopping it immediately to resolve this. It seems to us members that the work is already done before we file a grievance. That will not stop them from doing it again.
Sorry Sir if I seem long-winded but you did want my opinion.
I worked in Local last year and was so glad to see that the B.M. was replaced; I also heard that the B.A. has stepped down too. I know the new B.M. personally and have a lot of respect for him but he’s got an uphill battle to restore integrity to that hall. The ordinary members need to know that the International is behind them and are not just political appointments. What went on in Local should never be repeated anywhere.
I realize the jobs of B.M. and B.A.’s are very hard and thankless positions. I have the utmost respect for my B.M. and B.A. running a multi-million dollar business is not easy. Now we have a non-union government and we are in for the fight of our lives, but we do need to clean up our own back yard first.
I thank you for wanting input into our union. I hope some of my opinions will help you in future decisions of our union.
In closing, I totally agree with you on the recruitment of new members, I’ve seen contractors such as LEDCOR, Flint and KIEWIT go to places such as Newfoundland and have job fairs to attract workers. They pay their way home every three weeks and their wages are somewhat competitive with ours, less the pension. I don’t know how we can offer these things as we can’t expect our good contractors to pay for this. These non-union contractors are taking inexperienced people right off the street and some of our members are training them. In four or five years you have skilled tradesmen to compete against us.
Thank you, once again.
Rod - UA Member - Canada [Top]
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