United Steelworkers union asks public to stand up for Canadian call centre workers

The United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 1944 has launched a nationwide campaign calling on the public to support Canadian call centre workers who are losing their jobs with TELUS.

You are encouraged to tell your representatives in Ottawa that it is time to stand up for Canadian call centre workers, our communities and our local jobs by going to usw.ca/standupforcallcentreworkers.

“Last week, TELUS announced they will be closing offices in Ontario and requiring these employees to attend an office in Montreal three times per week, otherwise they must resign and take a severance package,” said Michael Phillips, USW Local 1944 president. “This forces workers to make the impossible choice between their community, their friends, their families and their jobs.”

In addition to the Ontario office closures, about 1,000 call centre workers across the country, who have been working from home, have been told they now need to report to an office three times per week. This has occurred with no indication that work-from-home was being reviewed for these jobs or was ever likely to be discontinued.

“TELUS can easily afford to provide office space for their employees in Ontario, they just don’t want to. These call centre jobs can be performed properly from anywhere – and they have been, for years,” said Phillips.

USW continues to question the real motivation behind these actions and are demanding Ottawa lawmakers advocate for the rights and stability of Canadian workers by taking a closer look into the recent actions taken by TELUS.

“We need to push for the protection of our local Canadian jobs, our communities and our future,” said Jayson Little, USW staff representative. “The Canadian government continues to award millions in contracts to big telecom companies like TELUS, while thousands of good-paying and community-sustaining jobs leave Canada.”

TELUS workers have experienced significant job losses in Canada in recent years, while the government has sat idly by.

“When the Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) first merged with the USW in 2014 we had a membership of over 14,000. Today, we are under 4,000. You have to ask yourself, ‘Where did these 10,000-plus jobs go?’ TELUS Digital Experience (formerly TELUS International) now has a growing workforce of nearly 80,000 workers in 32 countries – that’s where our jobs have gone. Government needs to wake up to stop big corporations, like TELUS, from this type of behaviour, and that’s why we have launched this nationwide campaign,” added Little.

About the United Steelworkers union

The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.

Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the USW because of the union’s strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good wages, benefits and pensions.

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