The B.C. government has released its master union agreement for the Pattullo Bridge replacement project, with an estimate that the lengthy provisions will add between four and seven per cent to the project cost.

The with a group of 19 international unions is a template for all major public construction under the B.C. NDP government includes strict provisions for local hiring, an average of 25 per cent apprentices on each job, and annual two per cent raises on specified wages by trade.

Transportation Minister Claire Trevena called the pay increases an 鈥渋ndustry standard,鈥� and said she鈥檚 confident the Pattullo replacement can be done within the existing $1.377 billion budget. The government has also set up a new Crown corporation called B.C. Infrastructure Benefits Inc. to manage large road, bridge and other government projects.

鈥淲e believe the benefits we鈥檙e going to see in British Columbia outweigh any potential increase in costs,鈥� Trevena said in an interview Thursday. 鈥淲e have a desperate need for a skilled workforce, and this will help create that skilled workforce.鈥�

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Along with rules for hiring of Indigenous people and other 鈥渆quity seeking groups, one provision is for workers to come from 100 km of the project site. B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson said that鈥檚 too restrictive.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e picking winners and losers about the Pattullo Bridge construction, and the winners are their union friends who live nearby in NDP-controlled districts,鈥� Wilkinson said. 鈥淎nd the losers are all of the rest of British Columbians who have to pay for this project.鈥�

The Pattullo was the choice of Premier John Horgan as the next priority for Lower Mainland infrastructure after forming a minority government and cancelling work on a high-level replacement for the Massey tunnel. Horgan announced in March that B.C. would be returning to 鈥減roject labour agreements鈥� that restrict labour to union rates and membership after 30 days on the job.

The Pattullo, connecting North Surrey and New Westminster, is an aging four-lane bridge to be replaced by a four-lane bridge with bike lanes. Trevena said the bike lanes could be used to expand the crossing to six lanes if that is needed in the future.