City of Toronto the main holdout to adopt rules that would allow all construction companies the opportunity to bid on public infrastructure.
TORONTO, July 3, 2019 – Merit Ontario, representing Ontario’s open shop construction companies welcomed the end of the so called “opt in” phase of Bill 66 Schedule 9 (Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act, 2019). The legislation gave public sector entities a 90-day window to opt back into their unfair and restrictive labour agreements and that period is now over.
“We thank Mayor and Councilors in Sault Ste Marie, Hamilton, and the Region of Waterloo for voting for fairness and transparency in awarding construction contracts in those cities,” said Michael Gallardo, Executive Director of Merit Ontario. “Bill 66 will save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and ensure that no worker is banned from a jobsite simply because they choose to belong to the wrong union or are union free”
Gallardo also pointed out that the City of Toronto chose to reward well connected insiders rather than taxpayers in its decision to remain a closed shop. Mayor Tory has turned his back on taxpayers and sold out over 70 percent of construction workers in the city. Saving money should be a top priority and he has made the situation even worse by expanding the work that must be performed by members of his favourite unions” said Gallardo. “We will be challenging this decision in court. We don’t think construction contracts which are paid for by taxpayers’ dollars should go to the mayor’s friends and political insiders.” He went on to say.
Gallardo pointed out that the money that could have been saved by adopting an open shop model for construction projects could have built many more schools, roads and hospitals throughout the Greater Toronto Area.
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