MONTREAL – Bell Canada technicians represented by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers’ Union of Canada (CEP) have voted at 59.1% to reject a final contract offer presented by the company on April 1.
"We are disappointed with the results," said Patrick Pichette, president, operations, for Bell Canada. "The contract would have ensured our technicians continued to benefit from top salaries over the next five years while preserving benefits, pensions and job security. It was a very good offer."
Among its key elements, says the Bell release, is that the April 1 offer included wage increases amounting to 12.6% over five years, which would have moved annual base salaries for technicians from approximately $66,000 to $75,000 by December 2011, with total pay being even higher when overtime is included, reads the press release.
"Our focus is on customers. The offer included changes that would have given Bell more flexibility to meet changing customer needs. Technicians were simply being asked to work a standard 40-hour week. The 24/7 nature of today’s business environment means customer expect that Saturdays and Sundays be treated like any other day. It’s regrettable that these changes are viewed as unreasonable," continued Pichette.
Overall, under the terms of the company’s offer, total compensation earned by Bell technicians would have continued to increase throughout the duration of the collective agreement, says the statement.
No word yet on whether the union will push for a strike when over 40% of its members voted in favor of the deal.
"Customer service remains our top priority and the company is fully prepared to manage and operate the business in the event of a work stoppage," added Pichette. More than 4,300 of the company’s management employees are trained and ready to be deployed should a work stoppage occur.
The 5,000 technicians involved mainly serve business customers in major urban centres of Ontario and Québec. Other technicians are not impacted, including those who support Bell Mobility, Bell’s residential Wireline, Sympatico and ExpressVu services, Bell Aliant (including Atlantic Canada and non-urban areas of Ontario and Québec) and Bell Western Region.
