All Out to Support TELUS Workers! Hold TELUS to Account!

Telus workers rally against company demands for concessions in Montreal, January 16, 2023

Some 7,000 workers, members of United Steelworkers Local 1944, working at telecommunications giant TELUS in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are defending their rights against company dictate for anti-labour concessions. They have been trying, in vain, to sign a new collective agreement with conditions they deem acceptable since October 2021. The contract of the 7,000 technicians and call centre workers expired on December 31, 2021.

TELUS refused from the get-go to negotiate with the union. It has hammered the workers with anti-worker demands for concessions regarding wages, pensions, benefits and working conditions. The company has rejected workers' demands on issues such as job security through the restriction of subcontracting and offshoring, which it is massively engaged in.

Workers report that TELUS managers have put one-on-one pressure on workers to get them to agree to the company's proposals and has even sent its offer out to their homes. In October 2022, workers gave the union a 97 per cent strike mandate. The company walked away from the bargaining table at the end of the year. In January, the union held virtual town hall meetings over a two-week period in all areas where its members are employed, to inform them about the company's offer and hold a vote. Over 79 per cent of workers registered to vote, with 72.7 per cent casting a ballot and 65.3 per cent voting "No."

Workers are pointing out that TELUS posted record profits in 2021 and 2022 and that the company's offer is not only inadequate and unacceptable, but an insult to their hard work during the pandemic to keep telecommunications going at a time when many workers became ill.

To mobilize public opinion and prepare for a possible strike, TELUS workers are waging the RiseUP campaign, which is a call to workers and the public to oppose the company's wrecking dictate. They have leafleted outside TELUS offices and stores. They are holding rallies, information pickets and strike practices in various locations, which are well attended and often held with the participation of other workers and unions.

In January, with the support and participation of the Alberta Federation of Labour, the United Nurses of Alberta, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Amalgamated Transit Union, amongst others, hundreds of TELUS workers held pickets across Canada. The pickets took place in Burnaby, Victoria, Prince George, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal.

Over recent weeks, actions were held in Rimouski, Kamloops and Kelowna, as well as in Strathmore and Airdrie in Alberta.

On February 17, the Canadian office of the United Steelworkers launched a campaign requesting that its members and the public at large send letters to Parliament calling upon various Trudeau cabinet ministers to urge TELUS to go back to the bargaining table.

Workers' Forum fully supports the fight of Telus workers for wages and living and working conditions they deem acceptable and against the dictate for concessions. It calls upon all Canadian and Quebec workers to give them their full support.

Actions Across Canada February 18-19

(Photos: USW Local 1944)

This article was published in

Number 7 - February 22, 2023

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2023/Articles/WO10071.HTM

Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca