reinventingthewheel
Active Member
It’s a shame you didn’t win the bid, maybe I’d be posting from train on McCowan already.
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cplchanb
Senior Member
numbers dont lie... we are statistically one of the least productive countries in the developed world. theres a reason why others can get infrastructure built in less time it takes for us to finish "consultations" with the public.
Posthaste: If you think you're worse off than before the pandemic you're probably right
Canada's productivity has lagged the United States for decades, but lately it has actually declined. Find out what this means to Canadians
financialpost.com
JasonParis
Moderator
Blaming unionized workers is lazy and wrong. Especially when many more productive nations are more heavily unionized.
Northern Light
Superstar
numbers dont lie... we are statistically one of the least productive countries in the developed world. theres a reason why others can get infrastructure built in less time it takes for us to finish "consultations" with the public.
Posthaste: If you think you're worse off than before the pandemic you're probably right
Canada's productivity has lagged the United States for decades, but lately it has actually declined. Find out what this means to Canadians
Productivity is lower in Canada because of low capital investment by corporations, because of low levels of competition in a very oligopolistic economy along with wage suppression (high wages trigger greater productivity investment); and finally because of low levels of vacation/high levels of work week.
Productivity is expressed as value of goods and services divided by hour of labour or unit of production.
Your read that it has something to do with laziness by front line workers is incorrect and not supported by the evidence.
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chrisw
Active Member
Myth 1: Construction Workers Just Stand Around [3mins]
Note I don't work in the construction industry.
micheal_can
Senior Member
It is the things unionization has brought that is seen as the problems.Things like working hours, safety, not having deaths, etc. For example, the saying that for the transcontinental, there was one dead Chinese man for every mile of track. Back then, that was acceptable. Now, that would shut a company down and the owners and shareholders would be in jail.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
We will look into easing safety regulations and labour restrictions when you start working in construction.
AoD
micheal_can
Senior Member
Oh, I am not one who is wanting them gone. I was more pointing out why things have gotten so much harder in developed countries. There is a reason there are more people 'standing around'.
kEiThZ
Superstar
Things are not "so much harder in developed countries". They are harder in Canada and the US. For a myriad of reasons.
micheal_can
Senior Member
Yes, and a lot of is comes down to the number of deaths for a project needs to be zero.
kEiThZ
Superstar
No. A lot of it comes down to a lack of experience since we don't have a continuous workflow that keeps a skilled workforce continuously employed. Are you really going to suggest that our safety rules are exceptionally more stringent than Europe?
micheal_can
Senior Member
Are you talking of the same Europe that hires migrant workers? The ones that will work for a fraction of the cost?
I know there are lots of reasons, not just a singular reason for why things cost so much and take so long. Safety is one of them.
kEiThZ
Superstar
We've gone from safety to borderline bigoted complaints about "migrant workers", whatever that's supposed to mean.
It's not like this isn't a big area of research of why costs are higher. Most famously Alon Levy's work. And guess what you won't find in there as a huge difference? Safety standards.
Why does it cost so much to build things in America?
This is why the US can’t have nice things.
www.vox.com
Why are subways in the U.S. so expensive? - Marketplace
American cities pay a mysterious premium for underground rail lines.
www.marketplace.org
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afransen
Senior Member
I imagine that low productivity is more a function of poor project management and bad governance.
micheal_can
Senior Member
A good example of that is the sheer number of consultants. Get rid of those and we might see things built faster. Like I said, there are many parts that cause things to become expensive and slow to build. I could probably list of 10 things and not even scratch the surface. Some of these are a burden, while others are important are are necessary if we want it done ethically.