Now that Bell has provided notice to all affected individuals, we are able to share the results of this recent round of job reductions from our union, which unfortunately includes fifteen TEAM members being laid off by Bell. Eight members in the Information Services VP Group received notice of layoff on Friday from Bell and another seven members from a mix of VP Groups received notice yesterday from Bell.
Following increased shareholder dividends and payouts to its executives, Bell announced on February 8, 2024 that it is cutting 9% of its workforce, or 4,800 jobs across the company. This translated to 44 TEAM jobs being targeted for reduction by Bell in the February 21st VRTIP program offering.
Bell advises that it received 37 VRTIP applications during the February 21 – March 22 program window. Eighteen of those came from individuals in positions targeted for reduction, while the remaining nineteen came from folks in non-targeted positions. Bell approved 26 of the 37 applications it received, plus another application it received from a targeted individual who self-identified shortly after the program window closed, for a total of 27 reductions achieved through voluntary means. There are nine confirmed redeployments of people in targeted positions, and fifteen people have been laid off.
Of the 27 approved applications, seventeen came from people in targeted positions, while ten were from non-targeted position incumbents. Bell denied eleven VRTIP applications in total, including two from people in targeted positions who applied with conditional departure dates for later in 2024. Rather than approve the conditional departure date requests for these two people who were willing to leave voluntarily, Bell decided to layoff two other people from those position groupings who did not want to depart the Company.
On top of the 27 VRTIP applications that Bell approved as part of this VRTIP program, TEAM is aware of at least another eleven members who self-identified and were approved by Bell for a VRTIP just ahead of the February 21st launch date of the program. TEAM has requested that all such VRTIP approvals be counted towards the required reductions sought from TEAM to reduce the number of TEAM members being laid off. Unfortunately, Bell has not agreed to this request.
TEAM has reached out via email to all laid off members to advise of their rights under the Collective Agreement, including the right to challenge their layoff via the grievance and arbitration processes that are available to them.
Fifteen is the largest number of TEAM members that Bell has laid off at once; six people were laid off following the September 27, 2018 EVRTIP program.
In the seven years since Bell bought MTS and promised to make Winnipeg its Western headquarters, TEAM members have faced increased workloads, continuous rounds of job cuts, discrimination for being unionized, and a distinct lack of new job opportunities as Bell employees.
There are no VP’s left in Manitoba, only a handful of Directors remain here, and almost 1,000 unionized jobs in telecommunications have been lost from the Manitoba economy under Bell’s management, so far.
TEAM members and Manitobans deserve better from Bell.