United Steelworkers union asks public to stand up for Canadian call centre workers
18 Julio 2024 - 2:51PM
The United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 1944 has launched a
nationwide campaign calling on the public to support Canadian call
centre workers who are losing their jobs with TELUS.
You are encouraged to tell your representatives in
Ottawa that it is time to stand up for Canadian call centre
workers, our communities and our local jobs by going to
usw.ca/standupforcallcentreworkers.
“Last week, TELUS announced they will be closing
offices in Ontario and requiring these employees to attend an
office in Montreal three times per week, otherwise they must resign
and take a severance package,” said Michael Phillips, USW Local
1944 president. “This forces workers to make the impossible choice
between their community, their friends, their families and their
jobs.”
In addition to the Ontario office closures, about
1,000 call centre workers across the country, who have been working
from home, have been told they now need to report to an office
three times per week. This has occurred with no indication that
work-from-home was being reviewed for these jobs or was ever likely
to be discontinued.
“TELUS can easily afford to provide office space
for their employees in Ontario, they just don’t want to. These call
centre jobs can be performed properly from anywhere – and they have
been, for years,” said Phillips.
USW continues to question the real motivation
behind these actions and are demanding Ottawa lawmakers advocate
for the rights and stability of Canadian workers by taking a closer
look into the recent actions taken by TELUS.
“We need to push for the protection of our local
Canadian jobs, our communities and our future,” said Jayson Little,
USW staff representative. “The Canadian government continues to
award millions in contracts to big telecom companies like TELUS,
while thousands of good-paying and community-sustaining jobs leave
Canada.”
TELUS workers have experienced significant job
losses in Canada in recent years, while the government has sat idly
by.
“When the Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU)
first merged with the USW in 2014 we had a membership of over
14,000. Today, we are under 4,000. You have to ask yourself, ‘Where
did these 10,000-plus jobs go?’ TELUS Digital Experience (formerly
TELUS International) now has a growing workforce of nearly 80,000
workers in 32 countries – that’s where our jobs have gone.
Government needs to wake up to stop big corporations, like TELUS,
from this type of behaviour, and that’s why we have launched this
nationwide campaign,” added Little.
About the United Steelworkers
union
The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every
economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector
union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United
States and the Caribbean.
Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the
USW because of the union’s strong track record in creating
healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating
better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good
wages, benefits and pensions.
For information contact:Michael
Phillips, USW Local 1944 President, michael.phillips@usw1944.ca,
604-818-7466Jayson Little, USW Staff Representative,
jlittle@usw.ca, 778-837-3584