VANCOUVER – Members of Canada’s largest local of the United Steelworkers (USW) have ratified a new collective agreement with Telus.
After a year of collective bargaining, the TWU, USW National Local 1944 reached a tentative agreement with Telus in early October. The local’s bargaining committee conducted membership meetings across Canada during October and early this month for members to discuss the tentative collective agreement and to vote on the tentative settlement. Ballots were counted on November 23, with 68% of ballots cast in favour of acceptance.
Members of Local 1944 staged workplace visibility actions to show support for their bargaining committee, collected thousands of cards in support of their contract demands, publicly leafleted at Telus retail stores, and made contact with Telus employees in the Philippines as part of an ongoing campaign to raise standards for Telus workers worldwide.
The new agreement has a six-year term, with lump-sum payments to members subsequent to ratification and 2% wage increases in each of the agreement’s last three years.
Despite very strong profits in recent years, Telus has by and large channelled significant economic rewards to corporate executives and shareholders. The membership of Local 1944 provides the high-quality service that Telus customers depend on and through their union they will continue to press for fair treatment. The union will be vigilant in making sure that Telus lives up to the terms of the agreement and will not accept any violations that harm its members.
The TWU, USW National Local 1944 represents over 10,000 members who work for Telus in various positions from call centres, network support, customer support, installation, and repair. They work in hundreds of locations across Canada with major locations in Metro Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Prince George, Kelowna, Edmonton, Calgary, Scarborough, Barrie, Rimouski and Montreal.
Bob Gallagher, USW Communications, 416-544-5966, 416-434-2221, bgallagher@usw.ca
Etta Hall, TWU, USW National Local 1944 Communications Specialist, 604-453-8620, etta.hall@usw1944.ca