Agreement could mean loss of three centres

By Dan Hilborn
Published June 28, 2005


Telus is proposing a future of job cuts and office closures in Burnaby under the terms of a contract proposal that union members voted on earlier this week.

A total of 375 Telus workers can expect to lose their jobs if the contract is ratified, while up to three offices in Burnaby will close, according to recently published reports.

The closures will impact Telus offices in "Victoria, Burnaby and Willingdon, B.C.," said the Edmonton Journal on Oct. 11. On Thursday, the Vancouver Sun reported those closures will also affect a resource planning centre in Burnaby.

While an official media blackout has been imposed on both the union and company, striking workers are expressing fears that the company may make even deeper cuts in Burnaby - a fear that would run counter to statements made by company officials over the past several years.

"We are absolutely committed to the Lower Mainland and and we are committed to Burnaby," Maureen Kirkbride, Telus senior advisor on government relations, told the Burnaby NOW in 2001. "Our roots are here in Burnaby. We have been here for more than 25 years and that is something that is not going to change."

Attempts to contact spokespersons for both Telus and the Telecommunications Workers Union this week were unsuccessful. However, the contracting-out provisions stated in a letter of agreement attached to the proposed contract indicate that the job cuts could become even more widespread.

"This letter provides advance notice of the company's intent ... to pursue contracting out options as an alternative to performing the work associated with the functions shown below with its own employees," said page 164 of the document. "Currently, approximately 375 employees work in these functions."

The affected jobs include fleet operations, supply operations, real estate, travel service, forms control, AC electrical renovation and maintenance, miscellaneous equipment repair, cable cutting, phone booth construction and repair, the custom manufacturing shop and coin-counting divisions.

The document said the company will offer a 'voluntary departure program' or redeployment for qualified candidates to other job openings in Telus.

The 13,700 affected union members voted on the proposal this week, but the results of the ratification vote are not expected until after the first week of November.

And, while union officials are officially endorsing the proposal, there appears to be a fair amount of dissension in B.C., where striking Telus workers have joined the B.C. Federation of Labour's ongoing campaign to support the B.C. Teachers' Federation.

While voting on the contract went ahead with few difficulties in B.C., security guards were needed to break up clashes between strikers and employees who were crossing picket lines in Alberta.

"If (union members) think it's good enough, we'll move and put Telus back together like Humpty-Dumpty," union president Bruce Bell said outside a ratification vote meeting on Wednesday. "But if they don't, we'll be back to the table and we'll see what we can do."