When the BC Liberals were in power, they built or expanded seven dams with Project Labour Agreements:
- Seven Mile Unit #4 – Seismic Upgrade (2003)
- Brilliant Power Plant (2007)
- Revelstoke Unit #5 (2011)
- Mica Unit #5 (2014)
- Waneta Power Plant (2015)
- Mica Unit #6 (2016)
- John Hart Generating Station (2018)
At these projects, every worker had to join one of 19 BC Building Trades as they do under current Community Benefit Agreements.
Ministers Rich Coleman and Bill Bennett were both eager to celebrate the progress and completion of the Waneta Dam, constructed under a Project Labour Agreement with the same unions the BC Liberals now describe as “the NDP’s hand-picked union friends.”
Page 12 of the agreement (last updated under the BC Liberals in 2013) lists the 19 Building Trades Unions.
Page 15 of the agreement stipulates that “All Employees under this Agreement, up to and including the rank of General Crew Leader, shall be members of or secure membership in the appropriate Union and maintain such membership in good standing as a condition of employment.”
The official news release for the Waneta Dam completion highlighted the benefits from local purchasing and hiring provisions, “194 apprenticeship opportunities,” and “an excellent safety and environmental protection record.” (Link)
(Rich Coleman celebrates Waneta expansion, 2011)
