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King-Victoria Transit Hub
(07-21-2017, 12:10 PM)Canard Wrote: That seems really unfortunate.

How do projects by massive architecture houses (Calatrava, Foster, etc.) come to be? Would that come from the Region, or is that up to whoever does a proposal to pick if they want a "bland" or a world-renowned architect?

It also seems really surprising.  I'd have thought developers would be jumping at this opportunity.

Maybe too many Region restrictions and guidelines?
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Wasn't there something about wood and carpentry that people were discussing before as being very "tight"?

I wish Zaha Hadid was still alive. Sad I'd do anything to have had her as the lead.
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Two regional employees fixed a hinge on a door and one of them signed a Brotherhood of Carpentry union card, which requires the Region to use union workers for all jobs, IIRC.
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If the Region isn't building it, and it goes out to another partner, do they need to be Carpenters? Is everyone on the GrandLinq team a carpenter's union member?

Coke
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(07-21-2017, 01:45 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: Two regional employees fixed a hinge on a door and one of them signed a Brotherhood of Carpentry union card, which requires the Region to use union workers for all jobs, IIRC.

Huh
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https://www.therecord.com/news-story/448...oo-region/

Quote:A toilet handle was fixed in an addiction treatment centre in Cambridge. A garden shed was put up at a library in Baden. A neon sign was installed at a bus terminal in Kitchener.

Those three little 2012 projects led the Region of Waterloo to lose in a remarkable ruling by the Ontario Labour Relations Board two weeks ago.

The region, because of its roles in completing those three work items, is deemed a construction employer by the board and appears unable to escape certification of the Carpenters District Council of Ontario United Brotherhood of Carpenter and Joiners to represent regional staff.

Quote:"You've got two workers building a garden shed on a Saturday and all of a sudden thousands of workers, unionized and non-unionized alike, are no longer able to do work for the Region of Waterloo, regardless of the fact they may pay taxes to that region," said Sean Reid, vice-president of the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada.

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/565...tion-bids/

Quote:The Region of Waterloo was certified July 4 by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 785 after nearly two years of labour board hearings.

The process was kicked off when two employees signed union cards after building a garden shed on a Saturday afternoon.

Ultimately one vote in favour sealed the deal.

Now only unionized carpenters can work on municipal construction projects.
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I am so lost. Can someone dumb this down really far for me? Sorry, if it's not on rails or isn't automation I'm pretty stupid. Sad
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The important point is that only unionized carpenters can work on municipal construction projects, so anyone wanting to bid on the Hub would have to be prepared to use unionized carpenters for the whole thing (and I would think that since there's expectation of a significant office/residential portion, that would not be an inconsequential portion of the work). I don't pretend to know whether most/some/any jobs around here are done with or not with unionized carpenters, mind you.
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(07-21-2017, 05:49 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: The important point is that only unionized carpenters can work on municipal construction projects, so anyone wanting to bid on the Hub would have to be prepared to use unionized carpenters for the whole thing (and I would think that since there's expectation of a significant office/residential portion, that would not be an inconsequential portion of the work). I don't pretend to know whether most/some/any jobs around here are done with or not with unionized carpenters, mind you.

That really is insane. There has got to be a way to get around this — perhaps some sort of long-term lease, so the construction (other than the transit terminal itself) is the developer’s project, not the Region’s? I’m not generally anti-labor, but the outcome of the ways these laws are set up is idiotic, and the behaviour of union people who are not opposed to what happened is ethically disappointing.
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Would GrandLinq have the same kind of requirements for building ion? Like, is this something that literally affects every type of project that might have a carpenter at some point, for the Region?
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(07-21-2017, 05:56 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: That really is insane. There has got to be a way to get around this — perhaps some sort of long-term lease, so the construction (other than the transit terminal itself) is the developer’s project, not the Region’s? I’m not generally anti-labor, but the outcome of the ways these laws are set up is idiotic, and the behaviour of union people who are not opposed to what happened is ethically disappointing.

The plan is (and has been for a long time) to sell the land to the developer and rent back the transit part.
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(07-21-2017, 06:07 PM)kps Wrote:
(07-21-2017, 05:56 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: That really is insane. There has got to be a way to get around this — perhaps some sort of long-term lease, so the construction (other than the transit terminal itself) is the developer’s project, not the Region’s? I’m not generally anti-labor, but the outcome of the ways these laws are set up is idiotic, and the behaviour of union people who are not opposed to what happened is ethically disappointing.

The plan is (and has been for a long time) to sell the land to the developer and rent back the transit part.

Right.  In which case it's not a regional project, and the developer is not bound by the region's rules.
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(07-19-2017, 02:51 PM)boatracer Wrote: The pre-qualification stage closed on June 30th.  Looks like there was only one submission from a team with EllisDon as the primary.  Not sure if there is something with how the Region posts results to their website or if there was really only 1 pre-qual submission.  This was supposed to narrow down the teams for the actual RFP.

https://regionofwaterloo.bidsandtenders....#Submitted

It is interesting that Perimeter Dev is part of the EllisDon development submission team. Just have not seen or followed these before.
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(07-21-2017, 05:49 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: The important point is that only unionized carpenters can work on municipal construction projects, so anyone wanting to bid on the Hub would have to be prepared to use unionized carpenters for the whole thing (and I would think that since there's expectation of a significant office/residential portion, that would not be an inconsequential portion of the work). I don't pretend to know whether most/some/any jobs around here are done with or not with unionized carpenters, mind you.

This is not just a reply to #Viewfromthe42 but for ALL who post in this thread, who have rushed to judgement seeing unions as the scourge of the earth related to the Transit Hub.

There is nothing in fact linking all or any of the assumptions stated in this thread about the Transit Hub RFPQ linking it to "union workers required". 

The truth is no one here, including myself, knows why EllisDon was the only team to bid for the RFQ.

Just like The Waterloo Record this forum thread section, for the last two months, has become a union bashing forum based on assumptions that are incorrect and just built on the last incorrect assumption and the next and ....  

Facts please, not fiction or assumptions that there is even the slightest connections to union requirements. Just because the unnamed  president of a large country can do this, does not mean that everyone can invent their own truths and then build on the narrative as true.
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I think the architect/lead designer for that team's submission would be Gensler (world renowned with vast experience in transportation): 

https://www.gensler.com/projects/advance...r-planning
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