BURNABY, BC – After a bit of plant damage on the weekend resulted in some customers losing their phone service – with the union getting the blame – the war of words just keeps getting hotter out west.
"Telus issued a bulletin today admitting what we’ve been saying all along," said Telecommunications Workers Union vice-president Peter Massy, in a press release. "After days of innuendo portraying our members as vandals, the company acknowledged that our members had nothing to do with the damage that occurred in Burnaby.
"A Telus media spokesperson spun the story to the press that damage done to their lines in Burnaby required specialized tools as well as knowledge of phone systems, implying that our members did it," he continued. "Our members, the police and Telus security deal with cases all the time where in-place telephone cable is cut down and stolen, often by thieves using ‘specialized tools’ like hack saws. The only thing different about this incident was that Telus tried to manipulate the situation and turn it into anti-union propaganda," Massy said.
"It’s important to keep things in perspective. What we have here is an intransigent company determined to undermine our members’ standard of living as well as their job security, facing a union determined to prevent that from happening. As part of their strategy, Telus is trying everything imaginable to portray the TWU and its members in a bad light. I hope that people don’t lose sight of that the next time the company makes some outrageous, unsubstantiated allegation.
“In anticipation of any similar propaganda that Telus may put out in the future, let me make our position absolutely clear: we do not condone sabotage of telephone company facilities," Massy concluded.
Last week Telus, after over four years of on-and-off bargaining, simply implemented its last offer to the union, causing the workers to walk out.
