3. Not identifying project labour needs early.
Most First Nations do not have a list of the trades required for construction projects early enough, so they cannot prepare community members for the opportunities. The community typically lacks the expertise to prepare such a list so they wait until a construction contractor is selected. This is too late to make a difference.
Few consultants provide a detailed estimate of labour required on a project. While we’ve prepared estimates on large energy and infrastructure projects, most projects do not include that piece as a deliverable. As a result, local communities cannot develop their labour capacity. If they are interested, they wait until a contractor is selected to “negotiate” for labour positions, which are limited.
Given that the successful bidder has already built a team during the estimating and bidding process, very few positions are still available for community members, and these are primarily entry-level workers. No matter how enthusiastic the contractor may be to support Band hiring, the community capacity is far less than the project need by the time the contractor is chosen. There hasn’t been time to prepare. As a result, Band labour rarely exceeds ten percent of the project.
Community leaders are often frustrated that the contractors are not hiring their members, without realizing that the poor result was pre-ordained by waiting too long. The contractors often feel helpless to change the team members at this point, and since they have a contract but no real relationship with the community, they forge ahead with the team they have.
WorkFirst starts with creating an estimate of the trades required to build the project based on preliminary information as early as the environmental review. We also initiate relationships with bidders prior to commercial bids to support comfortable relationships. We want to bring out the best in each party.
For project proponents requiring Social License to Operate and Impact and Benefit Agreements, WorkFirst supports positive band engagement, relationship building, understanding of the project, employment, supplier arrangements, contracting and economic opportunity. Projects are viewed as opportunities rather than only environmental impacts.
This is what we’ve learned about project labour needs over the years. Have you experienced anything similar or vastly different? We’d love to hear about your experiences.
Please stay tuned for part three of our mini-series next week!
~ Gary and the staff Bosgoed Projects
