Thank you, Mr. Chairperson and members of the committee. Thank you for taking the time to give us the opportunity to provide the views of the workers in the industry who are going to be involved with this project.
To start, I've provided a copy of my notes in English and French. Everybody should have copies of them.
The Power Workers' Union represents approximately 2,300 workers employed at the Bruce nuclear site. The PWU has been the bargaining agent for the majority of employees at Bruce Power since Bruce Power became the operator in 2000. Prior to that, the Power Workers' Union was a bargaining agent for the majority of employees of Ontario Power Generation, and before that with Ontario Hydro. We've been the bargaining unit for people in this industry in Ontario for more than 50 years.
We represent the front line of the day-to-day operations of this facility, as well as the workers at Ontario Power Generation's Pickering and Darlington nuclear power plants. We also have a bargaining unit at AECL's Chalk River facility.
Many of our members have experience working on these steam generators on maintenance, outages, and so on and so forth. The vast majority of PWU-represented employees at the Bruce site live with their families in the immediate and surrounding vicinity.
The PWU is also affiliated with the Canadian Nuclear Workers' Council. The CNWC is a council of unions that represent nuclear workers across Canada. The PWU is also affiliated with the International Nuclear Workers' Union Network, based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is called INWUN. It is an organization similar to our Canadian council, and the Power Workers' Union has the role of coordinating that international network. The PWU is the source of information on nuclear power issues for the labour movement in Canada as well as internationally.
PWU members are very well aware of the situation around the transportation of the steam generators to Sweden. Their first choice, naturally, would be to have this work performed in Canada, but they understand that the technology is not currently available in Canada. That said, the Power Workers' Union is in full support of the CNSC's decision to allow Bruce Power to transport the 16 steam generators to Sweden.
The PWU has been briefed on the details of the proposed shipment and is satisfied that the steam boilers can be shipped safely. We also believe this is a true example of recycling and suggest that the majority of the public, when they know the true facts, will support this type of project.
The PWU is a stakeholder in the nuclear industry and actively participates in CNSC hearings on a regular basis. It should go without saying that we are very familiar with the nuclear industry. As previously mentioned, Power Workers' Union members live in communities in the vicinity of the Bruce site, along the proposed transportation route, and in Owen Sound. The PWU representatives have consulted with our members and have received no concerns at all in regard to this issue.
Our union has also contacted building trade unions on site that will be involved in transporting the steam generators to Owen Sound. We have also contacted the Canadian Nuclear Workers' Council and the Grey Bruce Labour Council. All of these labour groups are in full support of the transportation licence being issued to Bruce Power.
The Power Workers' Union has been having discussions with unions that will be involved with the transportation process, including the operators of the locks in the Great Lakes, the union that represents the workers on the ship that these vessels will be transported in, and the union at the facility in Sweden. All of these unions have indicated their support. The only concern we received was from the Seafarers' International Union, as they believe that a Canadian ship should be utilized instead of an offshore ship.
Our union has briefed other unions on the basics of this issue, and once they heard the facts, they were supportive and satisfied. As you are aware, the CNSC has given this project a very thorough review as per their mandate, in our opinion. As a union, we are naturally fully supportive of public consultation and open dialogue. We suggest that the public and the opposition groups have been more than fairly consulted on this issue to date. We believe, as has been suggested by others, that many groups have been spreading inaccurate information about this project. Most of these organizations, we suggest, are the same ones that oppose anything that is associated with the nuclear industry. We also suggest that true environmentalists should be applauding this project, as it meets their goals to recycle, reuse, reduce, etc. It is our belief that the high majority of Canadians have no concerns with this project.
We suggest it is time to move ahead and allow Bruce Power to begin the process of doing the correct environmental thing and transport these vessels to Sweden for recycling.
In conclusion, the PWU is in full support of this project, as are other unionized workers in the industry.
Thank you for your time. I will be very pleased to answer any questions that you may have in this regard.