Hi, we are new to the forum (after lurking for a year). Just returned from a recce in British Columbia and absolutely loved it. We loved the scenery and felt at home in the province, didn't want to come home. We are not city people but were even impressed with Vancouver city and how clean and friendly it is compared to the British cities we've visited. Now looking forward to sending in our FSW application and the rollercoaster ride that comes with it.

A bit confused about the union thing, do you have to join a union when you are looking for a job or when you start work, also is there one union for all/each occupation or do you choose which one you want to join like in the UK?

thanks

Jamina

Welcome to BE!
i wasnt a major fan of Vancouver, but had already fallen in love with Calgary...
What line of work are you both in?

hi, thanks for replying, OH is a plumber, I'm happy to wait until we are settled before looking for work, I work in admin but I'm happy to do almost anything.

Eh? Don't know where you'd get that impression from, no.

Depends on the company.

Depends on the company.

I got that impression from something I read about joining a union before you get a job but wasn't sure if I'd understood it right as it didn't make sense to me but things can be very different in different countries, so I figured I'd ask for opinions

thanks

just noticed you are in Kamloops, it looked very dry, is that usual?

Yep, it rarely rains here. Arid, dry and hot is the norm here through the summer (40 degrees is common).

and we wondered if there'd been a drought!

Most public service jobs are unionized. Outside the public sector it varies. Some construction sites are unionized, some not. Some jobs such as stevedores are unionized, as are many lumber mills. As a very general rule, large organizations tend to be unionized and small ones not.

I think you are referring to some posts by someone who is out here on a recce and who's OH is a crane operator. I don't know enough about that industry to say if all crane operators are unionized, or just the ones that work on union sites.

What I do know is that for quasi-public service organizations like BC Ferries it is not necessary to belong to the union to get a job. However, when you are first employed you are on an "on-call" status with no guaranteed hours. It is only after you have XX number of hours employment that you become a permanent employee. As the union controls the roster you will not get the required hours if you refuse to join. Effectively, it is a closed shop, but you don't have to belong to the union to get the job in the first place.

You really need to get in contact with a few employers and ask about this.

We have to irrigate our property 24x7 from April to the end of Sept in order to keep enough grazing for horses. Natural (non-irrigated) grass is only green here for a few weeks in the spring, and late summer if we get any rain in the cooler weather.

Thanks, to be honest I had read it before too but that was refering to a different occupation again so when I read the other one I wondered if that really was the way it worked for all trades, especially as we're looking at the same province. It's so easy to assume the wrong thing just because it's different than here.

We loved it so much, wouldn't want to blow it over such a thing, also wasn't sure if prospective employers would expect you to know all this and reject you for not knowing or whether they'd be happy to explain it all to you.

I think you are referring to some posts by someone who is out here on a recce and who's OH is a crane operator. I don't know enough about that industry to say if all crane operators are unionized, or just the ones that work on union sites.

The crane operators at the company where my hubby works are all unionized. I am not 100% if this is at every crane company though.

Hello and welcome to BE

Hello! I'm New too ! Nice to meet all of you

thanks for the advise, I guess then for plumbers it's a case of get a job and join the union the company want you to.

now the job hunting starts ..................

welcome to you too ScottLey