Labour dispute impacting 2,000 homes under construction: Vaughan-based RESCON’s president

Michael DeGasperis estimates a whopping 4,000 GTA homes under construction are impacted

Yorkregion.com
March 18, 2021
Dina Al-Shibeeb

About 2,000 homes under construction are going to be “delayed at this point in time,” due to a labour dispute, says Richard Lyall, president of the Vaughan-based Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON), an association of residential builders.

These sites aren’t only in the Greater Toronto Area but also in central Ontario.

According to RESCON, Local 183 of the Labourers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) is preventing bricklayers from working for builders, despite a ruling against work stoppages handed down by the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) on March 4.

The association says Local 183 of the LIUNA and the Masonry Contractors’ Association of Toronto (MCAT) are stopping exterior insulation finishing system (EIFS) and stucco workers who aren’t allied with LIUNA from working for builders by withdrawing their services.

While some builders don't use stucco at all, allowing their bricklaying to continue unhampered, those who do use stucco are caught up in a “back and forth” come bricklaying time, Lyall said.

“Some builders have been denied bricklayers, period, because they've refused to acquiesce to the demand that they don't (use) a non-Local 183 stucco contractor,” he said, adding how Local 183 can’t supply the whole industry anyway.

“Some companies don't have stucco contractors because they're being prevented from bringing them on site,” he said. “It's a mess.”

Michael DeGasperis, president and CEO of the Vaughan-based Arista Homes Ltd., said in a March 15 interview with the National Post that home builders accept that stucco workers need to be members of a union.

For DeGasperis, LIUNA workers are more expensive than the workers belonging to a rival trade union, Local 1891 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT).

DeGasperis estimated a whopping 4,000 GTA homes under construction -- double Lyall's estimate -- are impacted. In addition, DeGasperis says he anticipates the requirement for union workers to add $5,000 to $20,000 to the cost of a house depending on the job size and the union.

In his financial roundup, DeGasperis said using Local 1891 might cost 10 per cent more than non-union workers and using Local 183 could cost as much as 50 per cent more.

Lyall rejects this rationale.

“From the association point of view, this is all labour relations and collective agreement matters,” Lyall said.

“The reality here is that local 183 is trying to take over, basically, stucco. They want to bring it under their collective agreement and the masonry contractors. They've worked with the masonry contractors to add stucco and EIFS to the masonry contractors collective agreement.”

But the argument is EIFS being a “completely separate industrial.”

“EIFS are gaining market share on masonry, especially with climate change measures.”

EIFS tend to have one of the lowest carbon footprints of any cladding system on the market.

“We want to we want to resolve this,” Lyall said. However, “We're not going to be forced. We can't be forced to engage in essentially illegal acts.”

He added, “The builders can't give stucco to a union, that's not right. It's not lawful. And we're not going to do that.”

Gary Campacci, president and one of the owners of the Vaughan-based DuRock Alfacing International Ltd., which manufactures EIFS, says the union has stopped work for EIFS and masonry contractors despite the ruling.

“This has resulted in essential workers not being able to go to work to support their families,” said Campacci. “After months of litigation, there are many builders still not able to complete their homes, resulting in closing delays.”