Engine room crew keep the ferries running long after the last sailing of the day. From graveyard maintenance to mentoring the next generation of crew, Alex Yates shares what the job is really like below deck. ⛴️ buff.ly/FO0uri7 #bclab

Tumbler Ridge Shows We Can’t Take Rural Medicine for Granted | The Tyee This year’s mass shooting could have been much worse.

We have yet to discuss the new normalization of closures of rural emergency departments and how that could have made #TumblerRidge even more tragic than it was.

Emergency physician Alan Drummond writes. #bclab

The Workers Who Keep SkyTrain Clean Aren’t Happy | The Tyee Their union has filed several grievances over allegations of union busting and a toxic work environment.

In the weeks since Dexterra Group took over as the janitors’ employer, 17 workers have been laid off, with some accusing the new management of union busting and bullying — allegations that have led to their union filing a formal grievance.

@isaacphannay.bsky.social reports. #bclab #vanlab

Half of BC’s Community Paramedic Positions Are Unfilled | The Tyee They offer vital preventive medicine to patients in rural and remote communities. But the program is struggling to scale up.

A preventive health-care solution that could benefit rural, remote and Indigenous communities across B.C. is struggling to find staff. @michellegamage.bsky.social reports. #bclab

Participation is power. 💪 A stronger union starts with you. 👉 buff.ly/WX6FnfY #bclab #unionstrong

Left East to West This is Left East to West -- checking-in across Canada and interviews for people who build this country.

Check out this interview about why governments should be bolder about stepping up to help working people in tough times.

And then subscribe to Left East to West, a great new podcast about progressive Canadian politics! www.youtube.com/@LeftEasttoW... or podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/l... #BCLab

"It's hard to go wrong if you start and end with a recognition that working people are the engine of the economy and the heart of all of our communities." — New ep just dropped of Left East to West with @susibcfed.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDCz... #BCLab

Okay: noon on Tuesday, March 24 at Metrotown Station — it's a date! #BCLab

About 20 picketers outdoors on a rainy day with "Machinist Union of Strike" placards. Sussanne is at the end in an orange raincoat, holding a BCFED flag.

@susibcfed.bsky.social joined picketers from @iamunioncanada.bsky.social yesterday in the first day of their strike against Wexxar Bel Packaging. They're fighting for benefits, seniority, job security and wages.

#BCLab

Let’s ensure local British Columbians build BC - BC Building Trades BC is in the largest public infrastructure build in a generation. At the same time, we face a serious skilled trades labour shortage after decades of underinvestment in apprenticeships and training.

Speak up for good jobs and strong community economies!

Right now, BC is building the most public infrastructure (bridges, transit, schools, hospitals & more) in a generation. And unlike in the past, our province is making sure that BC workers and local communities benefit.

protectbcjobs.ca #BCLab

Harvesting Burned Trees May Seem a No-Brainer. But It Poses Big Risks | The Tyee How aggressive salvage logging after fires may harm BC’s future forest industry.

By increasing “wildfire salvage” of forests, B.C.’s forests minister Ravi Parmar is travelling down the same road that has seen the province’s logging rates plummet by more than half since the heyday of the 1980s. #bclab #OldGrowth

BC Teachers Win Gender-Affirming Care, Except in Two Cities | The Tyee The Vancouver and Coquitlam locals say members voted to stay on local health plans not renegotiated in more than a decade.

Teachers in Vancouver and Coquitlam, the majority of whom have voted against joining the provincial health plan, can’t access the coverage for gender-affirming care.

The gap is “alarming,” said one sociology professor. #bclab #bcpoli

A group of about two dozen Korean union officials and BCFED leaders and staff standing with fists raised behind a banner that reads "2026 Yeonggwang-gun Advanced Labor-Management Culture Experience Overseas Training for Research on Successful Cases of Public Official Labor-Management Relations - Yeonggwang-gun Public Officials' Labor Union"

Last Friday, we welcomed union members from Yeonggwang-gun, South Korea to the BCFED headquarters for a conversation about the challenges and opportunities we're each facing, and how we're meeting them. #BCLab

From the railway to the bargaining table: Executive director Gary Caroline shares how nearly 40 years in labour law, and a lifetime in the union movement, shape his work alongside ferry workers today: buff.ly/wQQALjy #bclab #bcpoli

Big thanks to Tara Landry for sharing this photo, taken by electrician Brian McNeil, of the annual changing of the aft mast light on the Spirit of Vancouver Island. From left: Josh Yeung, Grant Stevens, Mark Armstrong, Matt Mansley and Devon Hall. Mark retires this April after 38 years! #bclab

BC Government Wants Stronger Crane Operating Requirements | The Tyee After a series of accidents, the province is also launching a new certification for workers overseeing crane operators.

The change is part of a slate of updates to how cranes will be permitted that the minister announced March 3, in response to a series of fatal crane incidents in B.C. that have killed workers and a passerby. #bclab

How Is Ottawa’s Tariff Response Working for BC? | The Tyee United Steelworkers’ Jeff Bromley says efforts on trade and EI are welcome but hundreds of workers are still falling through the cracks.

United Steelworkers Wood Council chair Jeff Bromley said that while new trade relationships are already helping some B.C. lumber workers, Canada needs to bolster employment insurance even more to keep workers from falling through the cracks. #bclab #canpoli

BCFED March 8 is International Women's Day

"On International Women’s Day, let’s celebrate the women who organize, lead, and fight for fairness in our workplaces, unions and communities...

#BCLab #iwd2026

Dr. Dick in front of a photo of a 19th-century factory floor

Dr. Dick in front of a collage of text and images

@mysdick.bsky.social is doing the good work of ruining my Charles Babbage fandom at @iatsecanada.bsky.social 891’s #AI Learning and Engagement Symposium. #BCLab

Community Benefit Agreements mean BC workers and communities get the most out of major construction projects: training, well paying jobs and a boost to local economies. Conservatives want to get rid of them so their big business friends can pay workers less and pocket the difference. SUSSANNE SKIDMORE - PRESIDENT, BCFED

When we invest in building major projects in BC, it's just common sense to get the most out of that investment for workers and communities.

That's why Community Benefit Agreements and Project Labour Agreements exist. They guarantee local hiring, good wages, solid safety practices & training. #BCLab

Congratulations to the @bctf.bsky.social on ratifying their new four-year collective agreement! And thank you for all the hard work you do on behalf of students, their families and our communities. ❤️ #BCLab #BCEd

Photo of labour leaders and Minister Whiteside. Caption: "New crane safety rules will save lives."

The new crane safety measures announced today by BC Labour Minister @jenniferwhiteside.bsky.social will save lives and make construction sites safer across the province, say the BC Federation of Labour, BC Building Trades and IUOE Local 115.

See our full release at bcfed.ca/news/release.... #BCLab

March 8 is International Womens' Day. Read the Women and Gender Equity Committee statement and stand in solidarity. ✊🌸 buff.ly/4pSUYwS #IWD2026 #bclab #womeninmaritme

Prosecutors Seek $1-Million Fine in Rare Worker Fatality Case | The Tyee A BC construction firm was convicted of criminal negligence after Jeff Caron was crushed on the job.

More than 13 years after one pipe layer was killed and another injured while replacing a Burnaby storm sewer, their employer is in court for a sentencing hearing. #bclab

Congratulations members working at Victoria Shipyards ratified

Congratulations to our members, along with other union members, who work at Victoria Shipyards on ratifying your new collective agreement! #bclab

SFU Contract Workers Sounded the Alarm on Abuse. Nothing Changed | The Tyee Workers, faculty and students have called on the university to bring workers in-house for years.

There have been at least three official bullying and harassment complaints raised by contract workers at Simon Fraser University since the COVID-19 pandemic, with dozens more workers saying they’ve experienced similar treatment. #bclab #bced

Golden Tree Farmworkers' Memorial 2026 Ceremony Sunday, March 8 12:30-3:30 PM Matsqui Centennial Auditorium and Friendship Garden at Abbotsford City Hall 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford BC

On Sunday, March 8, please join us at 12:30 at Abbotsford's Matsqui Centennial Auditorium and the Golden Tree monument to remember three farmworkers — Sukhvinder Kaur Punia, Amarjit Kaur Bal and Sarabjit Kaur Sidhu — who were killed in the rollover of the overloaded van taking them to work.

#BCLab

Which is why the WCB is developing new rules on harassment. And it's why the BCFED is pushing to bring those rules forward as soon as possible, and to make them as strong as possible.

Because bullying and harassment are unacceptable — everywhere and anywhere.

#PinkShirtDay #BCLab

Pink Shirt Day is more than a colour. 💗 It’s about dignity, safety and respect at work. Read what it means for union members and what you can do if you’re facing bullying. ⚓ buff.ly/KR1vcyy #bclab

#CanLab #BCLab #ABLab #SaskLab #ManLab #OnLab #FTQ #NBLab #NSLab #NFLab #PEILab #CTC #CLC

We need International unity: American, Canadian, & Mexican workers against the corporations.

Immigrant & 1st-generation workers built the UAW in the 1930s. We need that unity today!