employment and benefits and a pension plan, a lot of people are choosing skilled trades as a first choice. They know they can get a good career out of it.” Currently, one of the key focuses of LiUNA Local 1059 is getting that message out there even more. They are now reaching out to public schools and high schools. They have commissioned large advertising campaigns, including billboards, ads online and on social media, and newsletters. They also recently created a virtual reality platform, and they filmed content on their job sites with VR headsets. “We’re going to drop those off to school boards and guidance counsellors as a way to try to engage youths and encourage them to get into the trades,” Brandon explains. In particular, they want to get more underrepresented groups into the trades. For example, they want to attract more women, Indigenous peoples, and new Canadians. “Recruitment is a big focus,” he adds. “We need to do that to meet the demand of all the infrastructure projects that are ongoing, and we also have a lot of boomers that are retiring and we need to make sure we have enough members to fill these vacancies. That’s priority number one.” Priority number two, meanwhile, is to continue attracting employers. According to Brandon, however, in recent years that goal has been easier to achieve than ever before. AUGUST 2022
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