New Collective Agreement and Next General Wage Increase:  Our newly revised Collective Agreement (CA), including wage schedules, is now available on the TEAM website. Please note that the wording of Article 1.01 pertaining to our scope and the Appendix “A” list of excluded positions have yet to be finalized between the parties; negotiation on these matters remains ongoing. 

Additionally, effective February 20, 2023, your rate of pay will increase by 2%, the second of three annual increases negotiated during the last round.

Update on Campaign to Keep Telco Jobs in Manitoba and TEAM: As part of our ongoing campaign to keep telco jobs in Manitoba and TEAM, members and staff participated in the IFPTE’s Manitoba Legislative Advocacy Conference on January 19th where attendees gained valuable knowledge and skills from expert speakers on how to run a successful legislative advocacy program to affect positive change for members, including how to identify the issues and how best to present them.  The major theme of this year’s conference was the privatization of government assets and in particular the impact of privatization and contracting out at Bell MTS, with a goal of keeping highly-skilled, well-paying telecom jobs here in Manitoba.  Following up on the conference, TEAM will be meeting with IFPTE staff later this week to discuss an upcoming Lobbying Day planned for the spring.

Opportunity to Attend the Mel Myers Labour Conference: TEAM will send up to two members to the  20th Annual Mel Myers Labour Conference, to be held on March 16 & 17, 2023 at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre in Winnipeg.  If you are interested in attending, please contact the TEAM office by Thursday, February 22nd.  Preference will be given to those who have not previously attended a Mel Myers Labour Conference.  TEAM will request the release of the participants from their work duties and cover the members’ pay and registration fee to attend.  Meals are provided at the conference.

Paid Sick Day Entitlements: As we aware of some instances of members not being credited with the correct number of paid sick days upon replenishment of their annual allotments on their NCS anniversary dates, we are encouraging members to make note of current allotments of paid days (hours) available, number of sick days (hours) used in the 12-month period since your last NCS date anniversary, and number of days (hours) credited to you on your next NCS date anniversary.  Annual paid sick leave entitlements, along with applicable information and processes are outlined in Article 13 – Sick Leave Benefits of our Collective Agreement.  Please contact the TEAM office or our Labour Relations Officer, Paula Baryluk, if you have questions or concerns relating to your paid sick leave benefits.

Changes to Bell’s Workways Policy for “Mobile” Employees: We are aware that Bell has announced changes to its Workways Policy whereby members designated as “Mobile” employees under the Policy will be required to work 3-days per week from their designated office work location, starting February 27th.   As we understand that this change may prove challenging for some members, we would like to take this opportunity to remind members that you can still request a change to your Workways or work profile under the Policy, as well as also being able to request a Flexible Work Arrangement under the Canada Labour Code (CLC), or an accommodation to your work location based on a protected Human Rights ground.

The CLC legislation applies to 1) employees after six months of continuous employment, and 2) flexible work requests for changes to an employee’s number of work hours, work schedule, and work location.  Employers have 30 days in which to respond to written requests from employees, and requests may only be denied for one or more of the reasons specified in the legislation.

If you have concerns about your work profile and/or questions about pursuing a Flexible Work Arrangement under the Code or an accommodated work arrangement based on a protected Human Rights ground, we encourage you to please contact the TEAM office, or our Labour Relations Officer, Paula Baryluk to discuss your options.  

AIP/PMP Results:  If you have concerns about your 2022 AIP result based on your PMP assessment, please contact the TEAM office as soon as possible to make arrangements to discuss options to address your concerns.