Masonry work at the “multi-use” site here may have stopped but the superintendent of plant operations for the local public school board is saying the strike will have little impact on the project–for now.
Masons walked off the site last Thursday, joining their counterparts across the province who also went on strike.
But Murray Quinn said construction crews have “changed focus” on the site, focusing on pouring concrete slabs rather than laying brick.
“On the short term, we shouldn’t see much of a problem,” he said. “We’re at a point where we have the slabs down and re-roofing should commence soon.”
Quinn added much of the steel frame for the project is up, and that workers will be “tightening bolts and straightening steel.”
But that’s only for the short term. If the mason strike drags on until the fall, Quinn warned the project could run into extra expenses in heating costs.
“It’s not really going to have an impact until we get into cold weather and I do not have a crystal ball to tell when,” he said.
“What you don’t want is your mortar freezing at night,” he added. “It destroys the mortar. If we have freezing at night, we have to do heating and hoarding.”
Meanwhile, Quinn has been keeping in close contact with the Labour Relations Board in Toronto, and plans to call again Friday to see if the strike is close to an end.
With summer almost at an end, and cooler nights an indication that winter is coming, he hoped the strike is resolved quickly.
“There’s a lot of block work that has to be done,” he said.
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