Titans of the labour industry are being invited to lend their voices and ideas to a new provincial government advisory panel.
Minister of Labour Monte McNaughton announced today that the provincial government will establish a special advisory panel to provide advice on a broad range of workplace issues.
The announcement came during the Ontario Construction Secretariat’s annual general meeting and conference at Blue Mountain Village Conference Centre near Collingwood.
As the new minister of labour since his appointment in June, McNaughton he wants to do things differently.
“I’ve reached out now as the new minister to more than 100 labour leaders, and I believe that government, labour and businesses can work together,” he said.
With the construction industry employing about 525,000 workers, McNaughton said it’s vitally important to the economy to keep the sector moving forward.
“This will be a way of getting all different stakeholders together on issues that are important to the sector,” he said.
According to the press release issued by the province, issues could include labour and employment law, the rise of new equipment and technologies, workplace health and safety, and injury prevention.
The panel is planned to be made up of eight to 12 members, with at least one member representative of the industrial, commercial and institutional sector, at least two representatives from the six other sectors of the construction industry and at least two representatives from industry labour groups/employer groups or associations.
While McNaughton said the province will be reaching out to stakeholders for advice on who should serve on the panel, they will be appointing members.
The panel will meet several times per year.
“There are a lot of people in this area that work in the construction industry,” said McNaughton. “If the industry isn’t growing, then all our communities are impacted. We want to work with industry to help create jobs in those areas.”
