Members vote yes to accept new tentative agreement

Dear members,

Congratulations, you now have a new collective agreement with Bell. Our 8-months of negotiations and our national fight for this deal have come to a close.

Members voted to accept the deal by 67.4%.

Votes in Favour: 918

Votes Against: 444

This was our first time organizing together since the pandemic, and we were only able to reach this deal because of the work of local union representatives, mobilization teams, and engaged members who spoke up to their representatives and the company about the need for things to improve.

Thank you for your participation in ratification meetings and votes this week and this entire year.

In solidarity,

Unifor ACL Bargaining Committee

Dear Members,

Your Bargaining Committee would like to report that we have reached a tentative agreement with the company on September 9, 2022.

Details of the tentative agreement will be released between 6 pm to 7pm AT, (6:30pm to 7:30pm NT) on Monday September 12, via email, on the email we have on file.

Virtual meetings will be held on:

Tuesday, September 13: 9am to Noon

6pm to 9pm

Wednesday, September 14: 6pm to 9pm

Further details on meeting logistics will be released over the coming days.

Please note that your Bargaining Committee members cannot disclose details on this tentative agreement until its official release.

In solidarity,

Unifor ACL Bargaining Committee

Dear Members,

The union and the employer will not be able to meet on the week of August 15-18. This delay was forced by schedule misalignment between the parties.

Your bargaining team will instead engage with the company, along with the assistance of a federal conciliator, in Halifax, Nova Scotia beginning on Tuesday, September 6, 2022.

The Bell ACL unit is still in its conciliation period. Your bargaining committee has not yet received a tentative agreement.

Our time in Toronto with the Bell Clerical unit helped move our negotiations along quickly, in a strong, united manner.

In the weeks to come, your Local Unions will need to hear about your support, and will ask for you to participate in mobilization. We hope to see members out at Labour Day events across the region before we head into this last stretch of conciliation.

Once the conciliation period closes on September 11, the unit will enter into a 21 day cooling off period before we enter a strike/lockout position.

In solidarity,

Unifor ACL Bargaining Committee

Members,

Negotiations ended today without coming to an agreement with the company for the Unifor ACL and Clerical groups, during the week’s historic, simultaneous negotiations.

The employer was made aware well in advance of the union’s top priorities and did not come prepared to have meaningful discussion on those issues.

Members in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario united this week in our negotiations. Your committees, including national staff, brought fair proposals to the company and were met with stubborn refusals.

Unifor ACL

Your bargaining committee, faced with the company’s refusals, made the decision to apply for conciliation. It became clear the employer was not yet ready to move on members’ key priorities, despite the unprecedented efforts taken by workers this week. The application for conciliation kicks off a nearly 100-day long process during which we will continue to try to arrive at an agreement. Your bargaining committee will set up membership meetings shortly to provide additional information and

next steps.

Bell Clerical

The positions expressed by the company do not meet the demands that members made clear in our bargaining surveys, phone trees, workplace meetings, Zoom meetings, telephone town halls, emails, text messaging and conversations over the course of negotiations. By ending talks and not seriously considering the union’s proposals, Bell Canada wasted time during conciliation.

Members like us built Bell Canada to be the backbone of Canadian telecommunications industry, and a massively profitable company. Bell workers deserve good jobs we can trust will still be there for years to come.

Bell Clerical and Bell Aliant workers remain steadfast in our solidarity and unity in these talks. Your local unions will continue to communicate additional updates and mobilization plans.

In solidarity,

Clerical and Associated Employees Bell Bargaining Committee

Unifor Atlantic Communication Locals

In historic first, Bell Atlantic Communications Locals and Bell Clerical to unite at simultaneous negotiations

Dear members,

Bell Clerical and Bell Aliant commenced bargaining in February. From the start, it was the desire of our bargaining committees to utilize the collective power we have in numbers at some point in bargaining. Both groups have bargained separately thus far.

Our bargaining agendas include common themes of better wages, work from home policy and job security. Both bargaining tables also share a common denominator: Bell’s lead negotiator is the same at both tables.

As we enter talks of the common issues above, the committees recognize that strategically this is the time that we coordinate our forces. Our two groups unite nearly 6,000 members across six provinces. That is power that we share, and that we need to apply together.

Our Clerical groups are entering the second and final week of conciliation. Our Unifor ACL committee will continue negotiating this week until June 30, 2022, then fly out to Toronto to join the Clerical group.

Next week will mark a historic, collective push toward the finish line. As trade unionists, we know that we are stronger when we are united, and these two groups have never been closer in our bargaining or our priorities.

We will negotiate simultaneously on teleworking, wages, and the critical issue of job erosion and job security in our workplaces.

We unite so that no one is left behind, and so that Bell feels the force of our 6,000 members at the table.

This move to bargain simultaneously is centered on principles of solidarity and bargaining leverage. We will have this first-ever opportunity to show a united front to Bell on our shared priorities.

Thank you to all members for your support, engagement and advocacy. Your bargaining committees and locals will continue to communicate on negotiations as they progress.

In solidarity,

Unifor ACL Bargaining Committee

Bell Clerical bargaining Committee

Dear Members,

Last week, your Bargaining Committee made headway on a number of priority areas.

We raised our concern in regards to recent modifications in Consumer Service Representative classification. Many facets of the work of technicians were also explored with the employer.

After weeks of slow movement from the Company, their representatives showed an opening for a change in pace. There is a lot of Bargaining going between Bell Canada and Unifor:

While Unifor ACL is negotiating, BTS members in Quebec voted down their tentative agreement by 80%.

While Unifor ACL is negotiating, Bell Clerical members in Ontario and Quebec declared an impasse, and started ramping up their campaign for better wages, a floor of employment and a fair teleworking policy.

For the first time in more than a decade, the Clerical group took a strike vote this weekend. Members authorized strike action, sending a message to Bell Canada that this round of negotiations must be different.

Watch these videos from the Bell Clerical committee, released ahead of their votes:

Ontario Long Video:

https://www.facebook.com/UniforCanada/posts/359648966252829

Ontario Short Video:

https://www.facebook.com/UniforCanada/posts/359649022919490

Quebec Long Video

https://www.facebook.com/UniforCanada/videos/1440877846356000/

Quebec Short Video

https://www.facebook.com/UniforCanada/videos/331955425776343/

Each of these actions buoys the ACL Bargaining Committee. We negotiate in parallel with one another because it gives us strength.

Bargaining Update #7

June 20, 2022

Unifor ACL Bargaining Bulletin

We are in the final stages, approaching the most contentious issues of wages, job security including keeping

jobs in the Atlantic.

Thank you for your support and solidarity. Your bargaining committee will continue to communicate updates

throughout the negotiations, including mobilization and solidarity actions in the coming weeks.

In solidarity,

Unifor ACL Bargaining Committee

Dear Members,

Your bargaining team met in Halifax with the company this past week. We prioritized a response on teleworking, where the company and the union’s positions are still far apart.

The employer seeks to maintain complete control of the teleworking policy including the ability to cancel it at any time.

This is incompatible with members’ priorities, and runs in stark opposition to even the company’s public relations, which highlights working from home as a selling feature for working at Bell Canada.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ituNZPtEiv4

Your Unifor ACL committee was pleased to welcome the Interim Assistant to the President responsible for the Telecommunications sector this week, Brother Len Poirier, to our table.

The purpose of his visit was to better understand the dynamics of the labour relations and bargaining with Bell Canada. His support was appreciated by the entire team.

This message is scarce in details as we have not been able to come to an agreement on items discussed this week. However, we remain determined to find paths of solutions.

We will meet next on June 14 in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Thank you for your support and solidarity. Your bargaining committee will continue to communicate updates throughout the negotiations, including mobilization and solidarity actions in the coming weeks.

In solidarity,

Unifor ACL Bargaining Committee

Dear Members,

As your bargaining team, we will always report the information that members need, both the good and the bad.

This past week, the union and the company made movement on some important issues, including the definition of small business customers. Additionally, we have come to an agreement on permanent enhancements to occupational health and safety.

Investment in Atlantic Canada remains a top priority for Unifor as we head into the next week of bargaining on May 24, 2022.

Thank you for your support and solidarity. Your bargaining committee will continue to communicate updates throughout the negotiations, including mobilization and solidarity actions in the coming weeks.

In solidarity,

Bell Atlantic Bargaining Committee

Dear Members,

On April 28, during negotiations, Unifor took a moment of silence to recognize workers lost on the job, on the Day of Mourning.

Each day we benefit from the labour of thousands of essential workers who give large proportions of their lives to provide us with everything that makes up modern life. Every year, hundreds suffer injury or illness because of their working conditions, and some of these workers die on the job.

This week we met face-to-face with the company, in order to have more efficient and effective negotiations.

Your bargaining team is working though many key issues including the definition of Small Business Customers, which we hope to solve within coming weeks.

As a team, we were hoping to be able to share much progress from the past week. Unfortunately, the Employer’s representatives appear to be slowing negotiations by not being prepared to respond on several longstanding issues.

We are still awaiting answers on important proposals, including Occupational Health & Safety and Teleworking, to which the employer had no response to share.

Nonetheless, we are progressing.

The two parties will meet next during the week of May 9, 2022.

Thank you for your support and solidarity. Your bargaining committee will continue to communicate updates throughout the negotiations, including mobilization and solidarity actions in the coming weeks.

In solidarity,

Your Unifor ACL Bargaining Committee

Dear Members,

This week, your UACL team made modest progress at the bargaining table.

Many items were discussed and some were agreed upon between the parties.

Additional dates are planned in the coming weeks, with the next round of talks scheduled virtually on April 12-14.

Thank you for your support and solidarity. Your bargaining committee will continue to communicate updates throughout the negotiations, including mobilization and solidarity actions in the coming weeks.

In solidarity,

Bell Atlantic Bargaining Committee

Dear Members,

Last week, the UACL team engaged in contract negotiations with Bell, covering a lot of ground. Unifor and the Company reached agreement on many housekeeping items.

Our primary focus remains securing a strong collective agreement that will protect jobs in our region for the next generation of telecom workers. In order to reach that goal, we will continue to mobilize in our workplaces and show a united front to the Company.

Thank you for your support and solidarity. Your bargaining committee will continue to communicate updates throughout the negotiations, including mobilization and solidarity actions in the coming weeks.

In solidarity,

Bell Atlantic Bargaining Committee

Dear Members,

Today, your Unifor ACL Bargaining Committee opened negotiations with the company with a clear and united message.

In this opening session, Unifor representatives set the stage for this critical round of negotiations. The session was held online virtually, and additional sessions are planned starting on March 1st, 2022.

Together, we told Bell that the time is up when it comes to shipping our work out of Atlantic Canada. Since Bell bought the company, hundreds of our jobs have left the region, and that practice needs to stop. Bell should keep the work here at home, where their profits are made.

Assistant to the National President Chris MacDonald and Telecommunications Industry Director Roch Leblanc joined us in this opening day.

Thank you for your support and solidarity. Your bargaining committee will continue to communicate updates throughout the negotiations, including mobilization and solidarity actions in the coming weeks.

In solidarity,

Unifor ACL Bargaining Committee

Atlantic and Clerical members united as Bell delays release of information

Bargaining Update: Bell Aliant and Bell Clerical Negotiations

November 10, 2021

The commencement of bargaining for both Bell Aliant and Bell Clerical continues to be delayed.

Failure to Disclose Information

Before entering into fair negotiations, your union needs to receive information about displacement of work from our bargaining units, both on shore and off shore. As everyone is aware, both units have seen a consistent reduction in membership.

This current information, and the Company’s existing plans for the future, factor into members’ concerns about job security and stability at Bell. Your Union has requested full disclosure both about;

- work that the Company moved away from the bargaining unit in the past, and

- any plans to contract out work that is currently performed by members.

Despite the high priority of this information, and the Company’s requirement to provide the Union with it, they continue to delay and withhold this information.

Unreasonable Demands on Maintenance of Activities

Bell continues to demand that a minimum of 900 at Clerical and 750 members in Atlantic must remain at work in case of a labour dispute. No members of either

bargaining unit has ever been denied the right to strike in past rounds of negotiations. The Company has not provided any explanation as to why this huge and arbitrary number of workers are required to prevent an immediate and serious threat to the health and safety of the public.

The union has filed a complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to resolve this dispute, which could take several months. In the interim, we call upon the company to resolve the issue, consistent with our past agreements.

What is Maintenance of Activities?

Maintenance of Activities is a procedural agreement, required by the Canada Labour Code, 87.4(1) that the union and the employer must negotiate so that in the event of a strike or lockout the immediate and serious health and safety of Canadians is protected. This has obvious implications for some safety-sensitive sectors, but Unifor has never agreed that any telecommunications workers fall under this category.

Dates, which were scheduled for November and December 2021, are now delayed as your bargaining committee once again asks Bell to cooperate in fair and equal negotiations.

Your local union will follow up with more ways to keep you informed, mobilized, and involved in these negotiations. Please take this opportunity to engage in your bargaining process.

In solidarity,

Unifor Atlantic Communication Locals (ACL) Bargaining Committee

Bell Clerical Bargaining Committee