AUPE members back TWU on picket line Thursday night
EDMONTON – More than 500 Telecommunications Workers Union members and their supporters — including many AUPE members and staff — were on the picket line Thursday evening to show their support for the locked-out phone company employees.
The union members and their supporters took part in a large rally at Telus Place, the giant telephone company’s Edmonton headquarters on Jasper Avenue in the city’s downtown.
“It’s important that we show our support for the Telus employees who have been locked out of their jobs for fighting for a fair collective agreement,” said AUPE President Dan MacLennan, who attended the 6 p.m. rally. “They are fighting for all of us who are union members.”
The Telus workers have been locked out of their jobs by their employer, which is trying to bypass the collective bargaining process and impose an unfair contract that TWU says will result in job losses and declining service.
Telus has deliberately blocked the union’s efforts to negotiate an agreement at every step of the way, the TWU says.
“We’re asking Telus customers who want to see better customer service and ensure Telus jobs stay in Alberta to help us,” the TWU said in a statement. “Telus has refused binding arbitration, and now it’s refusing to consider the federal government’s offer of a special mediator.
“Telus wants to impose its contract so it can reduce service and send jobs out of Alberta.”
The TWU asks supporters to do some of the following things to help put pressure on the company, which posted profit of $685 million last year and paid its union-busting chief executive $6.55 million.
- Call Telus and cancel a special feature – call waiting, call forwarding, voice mail, smart ring, call alert or call display.
- If you pay your Telus or Telus Mobility phone bill through automatic deductions, cancel the service and ask for a printed copy of your bill.
- Call Telus Mobility and make changes to your monthly cell phone plan.
- If you’ve experienced poor service or long delays from Telus, contact the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and register an official complaint.