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Vancouver Sun
23-05-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Union raises alarm over foreign workers at new St. Paul's hospital site
A B.C. construction union is calling for an investigation into the use of temporary foreign workers at the new St. Paul's Hospital project, which it says raises concerns about wages and labour standards on the major project. Union officials say they have information suggesting some workers employed by Legends Insulation — an Ontario-based subcontractor working on the $2.18-billion project under construction in Vancouver's False Creek Flats — may not have valid work permits and could be earning well below industry standards. Rob Sheck, business manager of the B.C. Insulators Union Local 118, which represents 300 members working at construction sites across the province, said he first became aware of the issue when several foreign workers at the hospital site approached other companies at the site asking about job openings and higher wages, after leaving Legends Insulation. Stay on top of the latest real estate news and home design trends. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Westcoast Homes will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'This shouldn't be happening anywhere in B.C., but definitely not on a provincially funded hospital project,' he said. A union lawyer sent a letter to Legends Insulation on April 10, requesting copies of its labour market impact assessments, documents that are required to legally hire temporary foreign workers in Canada. The union provided a copy of the letter with Postmedia. 'Some of the workers have told the union that they are in Canada on student and travel visas. Also, the workers have shown the union their pay stubs showing that they are receiving substandard wages, $17 an hour to $23 an hour,' says the letter addressed to Legends and copied to Modern Niagara, the main contractor for the St. Paul's project. In an April 16 response, Legends Insulation's key principal, Wilburn Belen, assured the union that the company's employees are 'employed lawfully and with appropriate authorizations,' but declined to provide documentation or the market impact assessments. 'Legends takes the welfare of its employees seriously, ensuring a safe and legally compliant work environment,' the response read. Sheck said the union then contacted several B.C. ministries, requesting an investigation. On Wednesday, a Ministry of Infrastructure official told Postmedia in a statement that it plans to follow up with Providence Health, which is in charge of the project, 'to look into this matter.' 'Allegations that people are working on this project without proper authorization or are being paid below the minimum wage are deeply concerning,' the ministry said. 'All employers in B.C. must follow the laws in place to protect workers. This includes the requirement to ensure fair, safe, and legal working conditions, and the responsibility to make sure their employees have legal authorization to work in Canada.' Providence Health confirmed in an emailed statement that it will also investigate. 'The allegations being raised are concerning and we are following up with our contracted builder to investigate further,' it said Wednesday. 'The new St. Paul's Hospital is being constructed through a project agreement which requires strict compliance with relevant labour laws … we have not received any complaints regarding improper employment practices at the new hospital site to date.' Sheck said this isn't the first time concerns have been raised in B.C. about construction companies bringing in foreign workers under questionable conditions. 'We have had many other occasions where workers from another company arrive here and are exploited by the employers who brought them into the province to provide cheap labour,' he said. 'Previously, unions uncovered that workers on the Canada Line tunnelling project were being paid less than even minimum wage, working long hours without overtime and in unfair working conditions,' Sheck added. In 2006, the B.C. and Yukon Building and Construction Trades Council revealed that more than 50 foreign workers from Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador employed by SELI Canada Inc. on the Canada Line project were exploited — working long hours without overtime and earning less than $5 an hour, far below their Canadian counterparts who made over $20 an hour. 'We don't want to see that happen ever again.' Sheck noted there is no shortage of trained and qualified insulators in B.C. and that relying on underpaid foreign labour jeopardizes local workers and the integrity of public infrastructure projects. 'We just couldn't sit back and do nothing,' Sheck said Wednesday. 'We needed to bring this to light because this could be undermining our entire industry in B.C., which has standards in place to protect our contractors from being exploited.' Legend Insulation did not respond to a request for comment by the deadline. sgrochowski@
Global News
23-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Union warns of possible foreign worker exploitation on St. Paul's Hospital build
A B.C. trade union is raising concerns about the potential improper use of foreign workers at the St. Paul's Hospital construction site in Vancouver. Now in the latter stages of construction, the massive site has seen thousands of tradespeople of all types on the job. According to Robert Sheck, business manager of the BC Insulators Local 118, the union began looking into the matter after a handful of people doing insulation work at the site started talking last year. 1:18 B.C. premier tours future St Paul's Hospital site 'I'm thinking there's some water cooler talk might have happened, and they said wait a second here, we're not making very much, let's go and see if we can talk to these people about finding a better opportunity.' Story continues below advertisement Sheck said there were between 10 and 15 workers from the Philippines, who were in the country on tourist and student visas, which he says are not the right documents for this kind of work. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy He also said they were getting about half the pay that's typical for the job. 'I got some pay stubs from them, and it was showing well below market value, we're talking $18 an hour, $19 an hour,' he said. The company that allegedly employed them is Ontario-based Legends Insulation. The company's website includes a page covering the work it has done at St. Paul's. 1:44 New St. Paul's Hospital getting multi-million dollar research centre A lawyer for the company told Global News Thursday that all their employees on that job had the correct permits and that they'll be taking legal action against the insulators' union, including a possible defamation lawsuit. Story continues below advertisement But there may now be other parties involved. In a joint statement Thursday, the provincial ministries of labour and infrastructure called the allegations deeply concerning, and said they were connecting with the hospital's owner, Providence Health Care, to investigate. That is one of the outcomes Scheck said the union was hoping for. 'We're hoping that the authorities and the ministries will come to investigate this matter,' he said. Scheck said some of the affected workers have been taken into the union and are now working towards Red Seal certification.
