Editor, The News:
There have been quite a few recent articles on government policy to only hire union workers for construction projects.
The defence of this policy is that it may save lives because evil employers only have profit as only goal. The other argument is that increasing taxes to pay workers more will help the economy. Both arguments are absurd.
The truth is, union and non-union workers are injured on the job, every day. Safety rules are broken by union companies and non-union companies.
Businesses try to provide goods and services for as low a cost as possible. For that, they provide employment and expect to get a profit. It costs businesses a lot if employees are injured. No business wants injuries.
There are always bad companies (union and non-union) that break rules. If the government wants union members hired because of safety, then the government should instead be enforcing rules to protect all employees and not depend on unions to adhere to safety rules.
Dan Banov, Maple Ridge
