TORONTO – Unifor issued a press release Monday morning saying Bell Canada's move to suddenly cut the hours and therefore the pay for some of its members is unfair.
“Hundreds of technicians working for Bell are categorized as part-time in name only, regularly working 40-hour weeks for many years,” explains the Unifor release. “Last week, Bell suddenly changed that, so that technicians across Ontario and Quebec are seeing hours and paycheques cut in half.”
"This cruel tactic boils down to corporate greed. Bell has provided no validation for this reduction in hours," said Jerry Dias, Unifor national president, in the release. "Bell is leaving Unifor members and their families with half of their regular wages, with no prior warning to find other work."
Company spokesman Marc Choma told Cartt.ca that this move is essentially part of the normal course of business and affects a total of 70 workers who primarily service major business clients. “This is an adjustment to workload for part-time employees based on changing customer demand,” he said in an email to Cartt.ca on Monday.
“It’s an adjustment fully covered by the collective agreement; in fact work hours for these employees will continue to exceed the requirements of the agreement.
“It’s worth noting that Bell has significantly increased our number of unionized technicians in recent years to support our ongoing fibre network and service expansion.”
"Make no mistake, Bell is slashing workers' hours to first cut costs then contract out to lower paid, non union contractors," added Renaud Gagné, Unifor Quebec director, in the press release.
Unifor is Canada's largest private sector union in the private sector, representing 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy.
