CUPE 5044, the union representing TELUS employees in Quebec, and CUPE 5144, the union representing TELUS supervisors, have learned about a new wave of new unfair practices by TELUS aimed at abolishing quality jobs in Quebec and the rest of Canada.
The employer is offering so-called voluntary separations to 720 unionized workers in Canada, 155 of whom are represented by CUPE in Quebec – 98 trades employees represented by CUPE 5044 and 57 specialized employees by CUPE 5144.
TELUS is strongly urging those concerned to accept these offers, while issuing a veiled threat that they may have to simply cut jobs if the number of employees accepting the offers is not high enough to meet its objectives. The objective at issue here involves cutting quality jobs in the region. Over the past dozen years, more than 600 positions have disappeared in Eastern Quebec.
“Considering that TELUS is posting record profits year after year, we’re wondering whether Canada is the cash cow used by the multinational to bankroll expansions to locations in other countries. Ever since TELUS International came on stream, they’ve opened establishments in Morocco, Romania, the Philippines, India and Guatemala. At the same time, they’ve cut hundreds of quality jobs here,” said Luc Pouliot, president of CUPE 5044.
The unions are worried for their members, who have built up their telecommunications experience thinking that they could make a career in the field. They also fear that the economic losses this will cause in the region and the loss of expertise within TELUS will inevitably affect consumers. The recent wave affects strategic sectors, i.e., the activation, engineering and operation of the telecommunications network, the Internet and data transmission.
“The fibre optics clientele has nowhere else to turn in the event of lower service quality, higher prices and data security. We’re pretty much a quasi-monopoly, because there’s often just one or two suppliers per region. If other companies do exist, they’re service resellers connected to these suppliers,” explained Brian Leclerc, president of CUPE 5144.
This announcement comes on the heels of a wave of disguised dismissals by the employer in the form of a forced return to the workplace for a minimum of three days a week and the opening of a call centre in Morocco and an announcement by a major banner to the effect that it would be serving the Canadian public.