Take-a-Break Lunch Events: With over 200 attendees, we had a great turnout last week at our two Take-a-Break lunch events held in Winnipeg. Thank you to all of the members who were able to take a break to join us! We were fortunate to also have a number of special guests attend the Shaw Park event to bring greetings and solidarity to the TEAM membership. Mark Wasyliw, Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), Opposition Critic for Economic Development, Investment and Trade as well as the Critic for Environment and Climate Change and Efficiency Manitoba; Kevin Rebeck, President of the Manitoba Federation of Labour (MFL); Melissa Dvorak, President of the Winnipeg Labour Council (WLC); Molly McCracken, Manitoba Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA); and Doug Smith, Researcher and Writer for the CCPA spoke to the attendees about the effects of privatization, job loss, and the impact on Manitobans. MLA Wasyliw and other speakers also stressed the importance of getting engaged in the upcoming provincial election (October 3rd). To read more from the IFPTE on last week’s events, please click here.
Members in attendance were invited to participate in a draw for door prizes, with the winning tickets drawn by IFPTE Representatives, Anna Liu and Bill Fitzpatrick after the events. The winning ticket numbers are provided below. All winners have been notified.
Osborne Event
$15 Tim Horton’s GC – Ticket # 005413
$20 Tim Horton’s GC – Ticket # 005393
$25 Indigo/Chapters GC – Ticket # 005440
Shaw Park Event
$15 Tim Horton’s GC – Ticket # 381282
$20 Tim Horton’s GC – Ticket # 381393
$20 Tim Horton’s GC – Ticket # 381416
$20 Tim Horton’s GC – Ticket # 005493
$25 Canadian Tire GC – Ticket # 381608
$25 Best Buy GC – Ticket # 381564
Additional Take-a-Break events at other locations are in the works for later this year, stay tuned!
Campaign to Keep Telco Jobs in Manitoba and TEAM: Following up on our meeting with MLA’s Malaya Marcelino and Mark Wasyliw last month, TEAM representatives continued to raise awareness to the job loss from our membership and province, meeting with James Teitsma, Manitoba’s Minister of Consumer Protection and Government Services and MLA for Radisson on June 13th and Dougald Lamont, Manitoba Liberal Party Leader and MLA for St. Boniface on June 20th. Both meetings were attended by Dave Eyjolfson, TEAM President; Erin Spencer, TEAM Executive Director; and IFPTE Representatives, Anna Liu and Bill Fitzpatrick. Members can read more about our meeting with Minister Teitsma here.
TEAM previously met with MLA Lamont two years ago. The Liberal Leader worked with TEAM to raise the job loss issue during Question Period and subsequently issued a press release calling out Bell for reducing “its footprint in the province, and through multiple rounds of layoffs has reduced investments in maintenance and service expansion.”
TEAM has met with all three major political parties in Manitoba requesting assistance with our campaign to keep good telecommunications jobs in the province, and we will continue to request meetings with other elected officials at all levels of government.
CCPA Report on the Impacts of Privatization and Sale of MTS to Bell: On June 20th, in partnership with the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives (CCPA), TEAM held a press conference announcing the release of a study titled, “For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Privatization of Manitoba Telecom Services and its Impacts.” The study, authored by Doug Smith, chronicles how MTS was once an engine of the Manitoba economy, delivering affordable rates across the province and offering good jobs to generations of Manitobans, and how since privatization and the subsequent purchase by Bell, there has been significant job loss, poor rural and northern phone service, and high rates.
Speakers at the press conference included report author Doug Smith; CCPA Manitoba Director, Molly McCracken; TEAM President, Dave Eyjolfson; and TEAM Executive Director, Erin Spencer. Also in attendance offering their solidarity and support was the leadership of the MFL, WLC, and IBEW Local 435.
TEAM approached the CCPA to commission the study as part of our larger campaign and partnership with the other unions representing Bell workers in Manitoba to raise awareness of the job loss that has occurred since MTS was acquired by Bell in 2017 and to keep good telco jobs in Manitoba. Read the press release here. The Winnipeg Free Press also ran an article on the study yesterday.