Shan O’Hara
Interviewed by Rod Mickleburgh
In this interview, Shan O’Hara describes his experiences in the construction industry as a floor layer and union organizer. He discusses his early life, particularly the tragic death of his father in an industrial accident, which shaped Shan’s outlook on the importance of worker safety. Shan started his career as a floor layer, went through an apprenticeship, and eventually became a certified floor covering installer.
The subcontracting nature of the building trades, together with the regressive Social Credit policies of the 1980s, made it difficult to maintain union affiliations within the trades. Shan and a few other floorlayers started a guild to try to improve pay and conditions for subcontractors. In 1989 he rejoined the Carpenter’s Union as staff, organizing carpenters and floorlayers. There was a bitter split within the union between the more politically-focused leadership of the BC Provincial Council of Carpenters and Shan’s faction, which led to the creation of the BC Regional Council of Carpenters. Shan played a key role in organizing workers, negotiating agreements, and establishing training programs for the new union.
Throughout the interview, Shan also touches on broader issues in the construction industry, such as the rise of non-union contractors, the use of subcontractors to avoid taxes and benefits, and the importance of community benefit agreements. Overall, he provides a detailed and personal account of the challenges and changes in the construction industry and the role of unions in representing workers’ interests.
Keywords:
Construction industry; floorlayer; Carpenter’s Union; CIL plant; industrial accident; workplace safety; Ireland; James Island, BC; Vancouver Island, BC; BC Forest Service; Labourers’ Union; Plasterers’ Union; apprenticeship; Local 1519; Donald Floors; Island Floors; Social Credit government; contracting; subcontracting; dummy companies; Best Floors; recession; labour guilds; Bill Kerkhoff; Expo ’86; communism; organizing; international unions; United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC); B.C. Provincial Council of Carpenters (BCPCC); Wayne Cox; Bill Zander; Heinz Corn; Communist Party; enabling agreements; pensions and benefits; Len Embree; B.C. Regional Council of Carpenters (BCRCC); Regional Council of Carpenters (RCC); B.C. Building Trades; Construction Maintenance and Allied Workers of Canada (CMAW); Doug McCarron; Construction Labour Relations Association of BC (CLRA); union raiding; apprenticeship training; union construction industry; politics; National Apprenticeship Contest; community benefit agreements; Island Highway; under the table; taxation