Re; Creating 200,000 skilled trades jobs, Stoney Creek News, Jan. 26

Ontario has been facing a job crisis for many years now, not just in the last five. I am a skilled tradesman and have been unemployed more than I have worked.

I am an electrician. Supposedly there are many jobs for electricians. This is not so.

MPP Tim Hudak and the Ministry of Finance are proposing that there will be more than one million skilled job vacancies by 2021. What is this based on? Surely it is not based on all of the skilled trades people who are currently unemployed.  These numbers cannot be accurate.

As far as modernizing the 1970s-era apprenticeship system, which puts the priorities of union bosses ahead of new opportunities for young workers, this is completely wrong. First, the so-called union bosses are elected by the membership and serve the members of the local union. Secondly, they protect the rights of workers and ensure safety standards are followed on the work site.

If three, four or five journeymen train a single apprentice, Mr. Hudak is proposing that a more restrictive ratio would free up more journeymen to train more apprentices. Where will all this training take place, when there is not enough work? Where are these future journeymen supposed to work when there are not enough jobs for journeymen?

We are well aware that Hudak is thinking it is cheaper to have apprentices working for lower wages than journeymen at full wages. Mr. Hudak has not said how he plans to create jobs. It seems he is unaware of the reality of the situation and our ongoing issues of unemployment and the trades – hard-working people who just need a chance to earn a living need jobs now and the government needs to address this ongoing crisis. Journeymen need jobs now, don t worry about 2021.

Darko Muzi
member of IBEW local 105 Hamilton