HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOD-56-02
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REPORT
CORPORATE SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Meeting:
GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
Date: November 18, 2002
ClfJ-I/61-o ;;Z
By-law #
Report #: COD-56-02
File#J:hr
Subject: Fair Wage Schedule
Recommendations:
It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee
recommend to Council the following:
1. THAT Report COD-56-02 be received for infonmation; and
2. THAT Council confirm its current practice of not utilizing a "Fair Wage Palicy"
Submitted by:
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Reviewed by: U ~ -.:::..- "'^-.ll.t.-
Franklin Wu,
Chief Administrative Officer
e Marano, H.B.Sc., C.M.O.
Director of Corporate Services
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REPORT NO.: COD.56..Q2
PAGE 2
BACKGROUND AND COMMENT
Over the past couple of years the Municipality of Clarington .has been approached by various
construction Trade Unions, and most recently by the Universal Workers Union, for consideration
of the implementation of a "Fair Wage Policy" in all municipal construction contracts. The
current practice of the Municipality is to not utilize a "Fair Wage Policy".
A Fair Wage Policy stipulates to contractors bidding, the contract hourly rates that they are to
pay to their various sub-contractors. The purpose of it is to produce some equity and
compromise between those contractors using organized versus unorganized labour.
The drawbacks of a Fair Wage Policy can be summarized as follows:
. difficult to establish labour rates and classifications acceptable to all parties;
. difficult, time consuming and costly to enforce
. may require additional staff resources to monitor adherence to the policy
. may restrict local competition that is not unionized
. may arbitrarily increase prices
The goal of the Municipality is to optimize our financial resources. In order to accomplish this
our tendering practices must be open and competitive for us to obtain the greatest value for the
dollars being expended and meet our objective of running cost effectively.
Staff have surveyed all Municipalities within'the Region of Durham and have found that the City
of Oshawa is the only one who currently has a Fair Wage Policy. The City of Oshawa
Purchasing By-law includes the following clause:
"3.08 In the case of all City construction contracts the Contractor shall be required to payor
cause to be paid to each person employed in the contract work (including persons employed by
Sub-contractors) at least minimum union rate of wages for employees of such class prevailing in
Oshawa from time to time during the execution of the work, or if there is no applicable union
rate, the prevailing rate of wages in Oshawa for employees.
The rates established by the City of Oshawa vary and are based on a percentage of the union
rates established in the specific zone for the representative classification, as determined by the
Ontario Ministry of Labour.
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REPORT NO.: COD-56.()2
PAGE 3
The most aggressive use of a fair wage policy is by the City of Toronto, who actually have a
"Fair Wage Office" with four (4) full time staff members. It is the responsibility of these staff to
ensure the policies are enforced and to investigate any cases of non-compliance.
The only other Municipality in Ontario known to have a "Fair Wage Policy" is the City of London.
In summary, it is staff's opinion that to implement a Fair Wage Policy within the Municipality of
Clarington would not be in the Municipality's best interest at this time.
CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON
40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO L 1 C 3A6 T(905)623-3379 F (905)623-4169
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