Opinion: Part 2 – Guilty – IBEW Union CLOSED Lorne’s Electric

My article last week was headlined with a question: Did IBEW certification cause the closure of Lorne’s Electric, Arnprior, Ont.?

Well, this week let me give my answer to that question: I find the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) absolutely GUILTY of sinking Lorne’s Electric. Read the following and decide for yourself.

As posted in LinkedIn Electrician: “In Feb. 2014 the union agreed to some financial assistance for upcoming work but did nothing to help Lorne’s Electric with work in progress or work quoted. The resulting extra costs of labour, union fees and other union-related expenses, which also directly affect WSIB and source deductions, forced them into bankruptcy.”

“Existing customers that employed them as a non-union contractors were of the common belief that the overpriced union rates would prevail and caused them to look elsewhere for electrical services.”

“The extra $400k in costs was more than his [owner Eric Glahs’] company could sustain. They are now undergoing liquidation”

So what about the 20 former Lorne’s Electric unionized tradesmen who are now out of work in this small Ontario town? They might be unemployed for ages and might be tempted to find non-union cash work to supplement their government benefits. Will they have liability insurance? Will they get permits and carry licensing? If they were to go under-the-table, it will be the unions who are first in line to condemn them as “illegal” operators. What an irony!

What about the owner, Eric Glahs? Can this company owner have another business outside of the union and if he does what are the restrictions? It seems due to his present position, he is now working an hourly job to help support his family and pay his debts.

Union interference took down this owner. He did nothing wrong; he built the company over 20 years and suddenly it was gone. He probably planned to sell it sometime in the future for his retirement – and, well, that’s gone, too.

So who cares? Does IBEW care? Do YOU care?

Have your say here! If you want anonymity, comment with first name only.

Thank you.

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