The Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario (CDCO) is composed of 17 affiliated Local Unions of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners across the province. In total, we represent over 30,000 women and men working in a wide range of skilled trades including carpentry, drywall, resilient flooring, concrete formwork, underwater construction, welding, scaffolding, and a long list of other construction-related work. Indeed, because of our up-to-date apprenticeship and training programs, there are very few construction-related jobs outside the scope of the Carpenters’ Union. In addition, our union represents many industrial workers and hundreds of highly-skilled workers in Ontario’s health care sector.
The CDCO conducts centralized collective bargaining in the construction sector on behalf of our affiliated Locals. The resultant provincial collective agreements are the foundation of one of the world’s most productive and efficient labour-management systems. In return for demonstrably fair wages, benefits, pensions and safe working conditions, our members provide their employers with their skills and commitment to mutual success – qualities that are needed to complete projects on time and on budget.
The CDCO has an in-house legal department second to none in the labour movement. We also have a team of WSIB specialists dedicated to ensuring that members injured on the job are treated with fairness, dignity and respect in their dealings with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Employee Assistance Programs and other ongoing initiatives of mutual support add to the familial culture in which we sincerely call one another “brothers and sisters”.
We are a democratic organization, committed to equity and social justice, not just in our own union, not just in the communities in which our members live and work, but throughout Canada and internationally as well. The number of charities and developmental organizations we help support is a great source of pride to all our members. What we wish for ourselves, we wish for all. Our Executive Council members, Business Representative and Organizes all worked on the tools before dedicating their time to serving the Union.
Please take a few minutes to explore the CDCO’s online home and learn about the numerous benefits of being part of the Carpenters’ Union across Ontario.
In Solidarity,
Tony Iannuzzi