Bell Canada workers accept new collective agreement

TORONTO - Bell Canada technicians, members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, have voted 74% in favour of a tentative agreement reached at the end of last month. The results were released earlier today following the counting of ballots from a series of ratification meetings in Ontario and Quebec. "We were successful in gaining improvements in key areas, notably employment security, early retirement opportunities, and guarantees of hiring new technicians as employees retire," says Barb Dolan, CEP's Administrative Vice-President for Ontario, noting that the bargaining committee had recommended acceptance of the offer. Highlights of the agreement include:...