BURNABY, B.C – A mere 54 votes came between acceptance and rejection of a new labour agreement between Telus and the Telecommunications Workers Union.
The workers voted 4,540 to 4,487 against the deal its bargaining committee agreed to with the western telco on October 9th, the union announced Sunday evening (the press release was entitled “The struggle continues”).
The TWU’s executive council voted earlier to endorse the committee’s recommendation of acceptance of the settlement package, “believing that it was the best deal that could be achieved under the circumstances,” said the union
A bare majority of the workers who…
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MONTREAL and THUNDER BAY – City-owned telco Thunder Bay Telephone and Bell Nordiq Income Fund have entered into a 45 day exclusivity agreement in order to look at a possible partnership.
Under the terms of the agreement, TBayTel has agreed not to solicit, initiate or encourage proposals from third parties or otherwise provide information to such parties. TBayTel has also agreed to allow Bell Nordiq to carry out a due diligence review of its business.
TBayTel sent out a request for proposals (RFP) looking for potential partners earlier this year. The telco wants to expand its service offering (including…
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CALGARY – This year’s WABE predicted change. Entitled “The Convergence of Change 2005,” the three-day convention took on many television, radio and IT topics in the hopes of “bringing things together”. From “The Impact of Networking on Broadcast Technology and how the dinosaurs are dying” to “The Future to Technology”, the topics are large and exciting.
Here is a snapshot of this year’s Western Association of Broadcast Engineers conference, held at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary.
There’s no stopping it. The HD convoy is rolling through. The message: Be ready.
Phil Keeling of consultants Cocos and Keeling Inc….
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MONTREAL – In a high-level executive move not often seen in the Canadian telecom industry, George Cope has jumped from president and CEO of Telus Mobility to president and COO of Bell Canada, it was announced Wednesday.
However, both companies were basically mum about the non-competition agreement Cope surely has with Telus Mobility and how it will affect his new job, which he’s scheduled to begin in January. Executives in such senior positions normally are bound by contracts which do not allow them to go to a direct competitor for a long period of time – much longer than…
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CALGARY – Each year the Western Association of Broadcast Engineers (WABE) holds its annual convention highlighting the best of radio and television technologies – and provides a venue for engineers to share information and their experiences.
This year’s begins this Sunday, October 23rd at the Telus Calgary Convention Centre. Technical papers and awards generally draw up to 500 attendees.
Each year the WABE also recognizes engineers for their personal efforts to improve the standards and technologies of broadcast engineering.
First organized in 1950, the WABE has now a long tradition of promoting broadcast engineering and has advanced technology through…
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OTTAWA – Personalized media will take centre stage at next month’s Canadian Association of Broadcasters annual convention in Winnipeg, November 6 to 8.
This year’s plenary sessions examine the industry’s “big picture” issues, including the prospects for regulation in a broadband universe, and the future of advertising in a digital environment.
The concurrent sessions tackle such hot-button issues as the impact of new personal media devices; the prospects for Canadian HDTV; the new marketing imperative for broadcasters; the upcoming CRTC review of the Canadian radio industry; and the future of news.
On Tuesday November 8th, the ever-popular closing plenary…
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OTTAWA – Not every intervention filed with the CRTC over the four new pay TV license applicants were negative. Many were overwhelmingly supportive.
As reported previously, four groups are vying for new must-carry pay TV licenses from the Commission and will face a hearing on October 24th.
The applicants are: Spotlight TV, a bid led by former Alliance Atlantis executive George Burger (backed by Insight Media and now Bell ExpressVu); One from Allarco (backed by the Allard family, the former owners of WIC Broadcasting); another from a division of Quebecor Media for BOOM TV, and a unique…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian cultural and broadcasting communities say that the new wireless video services now in the market from Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility and Telus are certainly a form of broadcasting and as such, should be subject to regulation under the Broadcasting Act.
Phase I and II comments were filed recently with the CRTC by all parties and while the wireless providers insist that the service falls under the CRTC’s 1999 New Media Exemption Order, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, its members, and cultural groups like SOCAN, CIRPA and even the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union all say…
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VANCOUVER – Telus and the Telecommunications Workers Union announced this evening that they have reached a settlement agreement, ending a strike that began July 21st.
The “memorandum of settlement” contains the terms of the five-year collective agreement that will now be submitted to TWU members for ratification. The TWU is recommending its members accept the agreement. Details of the deal were not released.
“Subject to ratification, this memorandum of settlement concludes the five-year process of merging six separate collective agreements into one,” says the press release.
“The tentative contract covers a national bargaining unit of approximately 14,000 employees, predominantly…
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VANCOUVER – The B.C. Teachers’ Federation has joined CUPE and the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union in disconnecting their Telus service.
"We want to demonstrate our solidarity with the Telus workers who have been struggling for the past five years to achieve a fair collective agreement," said BCTF President Jinny Sims in a release today.
"It’s shameful that thousands of people have been locked out since July and subjected to very heavy-handed tactics since then."
Ed note: The labour dispute here, however, is not a lockout. The Telecommunications Workers Union went on strike after Telus imposed its…
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