SOURCE: MeritCanada.ca, captured 2020-10-22
"Merit Canada is the national voice of Canada's seven provincial 'Open Shop' construction associations. Our over 5,000 members employ over 80,000 Canadians directly and together we represent the companies and workers who build more than 70% of the Industrial, Commercial and Institutional, and Residential construction projects coast to coast. As of June 2011, the Canadian construction sector employed 1.260 million Canadians with 900,000 working in the open shop sector. This represents almost 8.6% of Canada's total labour force, and 33% of the goods-manufacturing sector labour force."
An open shop is a place of employment at which one is not required to join or financially support a union (closed shop) as a condition of hiring or continued employment. The major difference between an open and closed shop is the requirement for union membership.
There are a variety of opinions regarding the benefits and negatives of open shops. In the United States, the introduction of "right to work" laws has been linked with lower overall benefits but higher economic growth by some proponents. Such conclusions are debatable, however, as employment, investment, and income in traditionally unionized sectors of the economy cannot be correlated to passage of such laws.
In the context of U.S. labor politics, "right-to-work laws" refers to state laws that prohibit union security agreements between employers and labor unions. ...
"Merit Canada fights for fair and open competition in government contracts, on behalf of Canadian workers and taxpayers."
"Merit Canada is the national voice of Canada's open shop construction sector."
"We stand for workplace democracy, accountability and transparency."
"We exist to ensure that Canada's 1 million open shop construction workers have the ability to work in their chosen trade, without forced affiliation with a labour union."
"We advocate for open tendering and fairness in support of the thousands of open shop contractors that are building Canada."
[PressProgress.ca, 2020-10-21] Big Business Anti-Union Group Offering Companies Pro-BC Liberal Posters To Put Up In Their Workplaces. New campaign aims to promote Andrew Wilkinson's BC Liberals inside British Columbia workplaces.
A big business anti-union lobby group is helping construction companies promote Andrew Wilkinson's BC Liberals in workplaces across the province. The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA), an anti-union lobby group that is affiliated with Merit Contractors [Merit Contractors Association], has launched something called the "Construction Votes" campaign. Among the election materials distributed to ICBA's member companies are flyers, form letters, blank internal bulletins and posters encouraging workers to vote for the anti-labour. ...
[2019-09-23] Top 'Canada Proud' Donor is Lobbying For More Foreign Steel Over Made-in-Canada Steel. Canada Proud's top donor is apparently not so proud of Canadian steel
... one of Canada Proud's top donors is an anti-union lobby group currently lobbying for steel imports from foreign suppliers that often rely on low-wage labour ... Merit Canada is a major anti-union lobby group representing "open shop" clients in the construction industry.
[2018-11-23] Lobbyists Pushing for Lower Wages and Longer Work Days Launch Ads Promoting Jason Kenney's UCP. Merit Canada previously lobbied Jason Kenney to weaken labour laws and loosen temporary foreign worker rules
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