Canada's Building Trades Unions pleased with NEB conditional approval for TransMountain Project

OTTAWA, May 19, 2016 /CNW/ - Canada's Building Trades Unions (CBTU) welcomes the National Energy Board's recommendation for conditional approval of the TransMountain Pipeline project. This project will support thousands of jobs, apprenticeship hours, and opportunities for members of the skilled trades from communities across Canada.

Speaking on behalf of CBTU, Canadian Director Robert Blakely said in Edmonton today: "Our membership, half a million strong across the country, is looking forward to this project. Today's report brings Alberta one step further on the road to recovery after recent setbacks in the industry and the fires in Fort McMurray. Canadians, now more than ever, need to know that the pipeline jobs and the construction jobs of this utility are not the primary employment opportunity - the jobs in the extraction facilities in the West and in the refineries and other facilities in the West are long term, high skilled well-paying jobs for large numbers of Canadians."

John Telford, Canadian Director and International Vice President of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, representing the pipe

fitters and pipe welders who construct pipelines, said "This is a solid step in the right direction. Our members look forward to building these facilities, they are the best trained tradespeople on the planet and take pride in building this line to world class standards."

CBTU notes that the TransMountain project still has additional reviews to undergo before final approval. It is our hope that those reviews commence quickly and be completed expeditiously, albeit with care, in order to get our members to work.

Canada's Building Trades Unions is an alliance of 14 building and construction unions that represent a membership of more than 500,000 skilled tradespeople across Canada.

SOURCE Building & Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO

Christopher Smillie, Sr. Advisor for Government Relations and Public Affairs, CBTU, at [phone], Cell at 613-620-0653 or [email protected]