A Powell River-based carpentry contractor is looking elsewhere for work after a job on the Willingdon Creek Village complex care facility failed to materialize.
Mark Makowichuk, a carpenter with 35 years experience, said he is concerned that local workers are being passed over for out-of-town workers.
After Vancouver Coastal Health named the Surrey-based Lark Group as the general contractor on the project last spring, Makowichuk contacted the company looking for work.
He was told that Guy Lachance, a sub-contractor based out of the Lower Mainland, would be building the concrete forms and framing the walls of the complex care facility.
Makowichuk contacted Lachance before he arrived on the job and set a meeting up to see about jobs for him and his two labourers.
“I met with him on a Thursday and the next day he phoned back to say that he didn’t need anyone local and that he was bringing his crew up from Vancouver,” said Makowichuk. “And he said he didn’t need anyone for a couple of months.”
The veteran carpenter said he could not wait a couple of months for a job.
“Now since I can’t go there, I’ve got to move out of town and the same with my two guys,” he said. “We were counting on a year and a half of work.”
Makowichuk said it’s especially hard because he moved to Powell River four years ago to be closer to his elderly mother.
“I don’t want to leave,” he said, “but I can’t wait two or three months for them to maybe hire me.”
Makowichuk explained that he was given no reason why he and his crew weren’t hired and that it was out of the ordinary that local workers would be passed over.
“There’s two months work that the Powell River guys could have gotten, but we don’t get because someone else is here doing it,” said Makowichuk. “At this point in time, there could already be 60 per cent Powell River employees on that site.”
When the Peak contacted Lachance, he said that he had actually hired local workers on the project.
“I’ve already got two onboard now,” said Lachance. “I’ve got seven guys on site and two of them are locals.”
Lachance explained that right now, two weeks into the project, he already had enough workers. “There’s only so much work and I can’t hire everyone who comes.”
He also said, “The more locals I hire, the better it is for me. I don’t know how many all together, but the guys have to qualify and it has to make sense for me.”
He explained that he brought his foreman and his main workers to the job because they are the cornerstone of his business. Then he hires additional local workers as need dictates.
Simon Fowler, Lark Group’s project coordinator, verified that Powell River based rebar and site-works contractors had been hired for the project.
“Powell River just doesn’t have a lot of larger contractors,” said Fowler. “It’s nothing against them, but if they didn’t bid on the job, they’re not going to get the work.”
The Lark Group will be hosting a job fair on Tuesday, September 10 at the Powell River Recreation Complex and collecting resumes from local workers looking for jobs as electricians and mechanical workers. Fowler added that in addition to hiring local workers, the company has also bought supplies locally and worked with a number of Powell River companies on the project.
Workers are currently constructing the tunnel that will connect the facility to the hospital.
Willingdon Creek Village is scheduled to open in early 2015.
