City can now use companies that aren't part of carpenters union
"I can honestly say miracles do happen," Coun. Duvall said
The city has inked a new deal with a local contractors association that will save taxpayers as much as $40 million next year – as well as see it use more local labour.
The new agreement with the Hamilton-Halton Construction Association took months of meetings to hammer out. It overhauls a previous deal where every company the city used for construction projects had to be a signatory to the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
Now, companies can form joint ventures to bid on city projects. And only one member of that venture has to be a signatory.
It means local companies will have a better shot at projects, said Coun. Lloyd Ferguson of Ancaster, a retired construction industry veteran who helped broker the deal.
Using only union signatories also narrowed the pool when it came to hiring companies. With the added competition, the city will save as much as 10 per cent on larger projects, Ferguson said. That includes upgrades to the Woodward Avenue water treatment plant next year. That project is expected to cost nearly half a billion dollars.
Both Ferguson and the union describe the new deal as a winning solution.
Matt Creary, Local 18 financial secretary, said it means smaller companies can join with larger ones and bid on projects it couldn't have otherwise.
"We were very much in favour of it," he said of the agreement.
Water and wastewater projects such as the Woodward one were a driving force behind the new agreement. The old deal dates back to 2005 when the local union won a lock on city projects at the Ontario labour board.
Coun. Scott Duvall of Ward 7 also worked on the file. He couldn't hide his enthusiasm when the general issues committee approved the new agreement on Wednesday.
"I can honestly say miracles do happen," he said.
The union filed a grievance last year that Ontario Sports Solutions should have used a union signatory to install metal panels on the new Tim Hortons Field stadium. That grievance has since been withdrawn.