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Canada’s Glass Associations: August 2022

FENBC
FenBC is contemplating some major changes to its structure and governance that are still in the planning stages. Most activities have been suspended pending these deliberations. Stay tuned for further announcements. 

AVFQ
The AVFQ’s board of directors adopted its strategic plan for 2022 to 2025 in June. With it, the AVFQ plans to consolidate the sharing of technical information and bring together the industry’s stakeholders. The organization will continue its actions to promote and influence the advancement of the industry. The AVFQ also launched its re-designed Curtain Wall Guide for AVFQ members and Quebec architects in May. Visits to the website are breaking records, demonstrating the relevance of the tool. From July 9 to 17, the organization ran a one-week French-language trade mission to Germany. During this trade mission, participants were able to visit three plants in Germany and attend the largest fenestration exhibition in the world: Fensterbau Frontale. The exhbition was originally set to take place in March but was moved to July because of the pandemic. The AVFQ is in the midst of organizing other trade missions, including to the GlassBuild show in Las Vegas in October. 

PGAA
COVID-19 brought on a bit of an identity crisis for the PGAA. After lying dormant for a couple years, the PGAA’s team of executives came together to discuss the organization’s purpose and value. Prior to the pandemic, the main focus of the PGAA had been on developing and implementing a master glazier program. Despite countless hours of volunteer work on it, the program ultimately failed to pick up enough momentum to carry on. After much debate over future directions, the PGAA’s executives came together near the original vision for why the PGAA was created: advocacy, education and collaboration. The organization plans to become more involved with local construction associations, retaining its advocacy for the industry. Keeping an eye on Bill 67, which could have major impacts for the industry and especially the technical training programs, the PGAA plans to use its position to advocate for a continued high standard of education for glaziers. It will also continue to maintain and seek to improve its website, which functions as a landing pad for collaboration between the separate glazing associations in Alberta, (GAMA and GTA). To accomplish these goals, the PGAA has slimmed down it’s number of executive members to maintain the most engaged members and remain nimble enough to adapt with this dynamic glazing industry in our ever-changing world. 

AGMCA
At the time of writing, ICI glaziers in the province of Ontario represented by the IUPAT were on strike. This action followed months of intense negotiations. The AGMCA was among many employer bargaining agencies that faced similar difficulties in this round of bargaining. The problem was industry-wide, as described in the following newsletter put out by the Construction Coordinating Council of Ontario, entitled “A Negotiation Round of Firsts.” The first bargaining round “first” was a comment made at a construction labour conference in the fall of 2021. There, an economist used fuzzy logic to assert that productivity in the construction industry had risen by 14 percent, implying that the reputed gain was due to the construction workforce and that they should reap the rewards of this increase. The economist also used cherry-picked data, advising the construction union workforce that their yearly increases had fallen behind the rate of inflation and that they were entitled to a significant wage increase. It can certainly be argued that this single event provided a backdrop for this round of construction contract negotiations. A climate of entitlement and an unprecedented level of expectation appeared to permeate through the construction labour force. Not wanting to negotiate through the press, management took no action to dispel the myth created by the economist. In hindsight, an error, perhaps? Second among firsts? The devastating trifecta of unprecedented labour requirements, the dramatic rise in the cost of living and rising interest rates. Third among firsts was the number of tentative agreements signed off by experienced labour and management negotiating committees that did not get ratified by membership. Individuals who know and understand the complexities of the industry, the market and market share met across the bargaining table, discussed the issues extensively and agreed to tentative settlements that both labour and management could live with. Fourth among firsts, and possibly the most critical to the long-term health of the unionized construction industry was social media. It appears that a cohort of the union membership became social media influencers, taking both senior labour officials and management representatives off-guard. These influencers lacked an understanding of what it takes to make the unionized industry successful and hijacked the negotiating process for short-term gain, possibly causing permanent damage to the industry.It is imperative that experienced labour and management representatives come together at the conclusion of this round of negotiations to discuss how we move forward to ensure the wellbeing of our industry.

OGMA
The OGMA regrets to inform of the resignation of our president, Jeff Makimoto. Jeff was a director of OGMA for the last five years, served as vice-president of the organization for two years and served half a year as president. Jeff has left to pursue new opportunities and we wish him well. Steve Ringler has been voted on as acting president and Steve Gusterson has been voted in as acting vice-president. Both are long-serving directors and past presidents leaving the OGMA in very capable hands moving forward. On June 2, the OGMA was thrilled to put on the annual Spring Golf Tournament after a two-year hiatus. A big thank you to all the companies that sponsored the tournament and all who attended. This year’s OGMA Fall Golf tournament will be held at the prestigious Cardinal Golf Club on Sept. 22. Email blast registrations will be sent out in August.