Telus unions affiliated with CUPE denounce the latest buyouts affecting 571 employees, including 85 with the union representing Telus employees, SQET-CUPE 5044, 86 with the union representing Telus supervisory personnel, (SAMT-CUPE 5144), and 400 with Métallos across the country.
“Let’s not be naive here. We’ve seen this scenario play out before,” said Brian Leclerc, president of SAMT 5144. “These buyouts are the first step. If Telus does not reach its buyout quota, the next round will involve forced layoffs. With each round of offers, we lose 5% of our members on average, which has cut our team by half in the last 10 years.”
One hundred years of expertise in Quebec could go by the board
“There is every indication that Telus is seeking to completely pull out of Quebec due to ‘improvements of customer service’ and ‘technological breakthroughs,’” said Luc Pouliot, president of SQET-CUPE 5044. This is totally at odds with the reduction of qualified personnel. The company’s real objective is to replace our unionized jobs with overseas jobs and contract out to the detriment of Quebec know-how.”
Rimouski (Lower St. Lawrence) and Sainte-Marie (Beauce) are the two towns most affected by these buyouts aimed at office employees. These groups of expertise at Telus are economic drivers essential to these regions.
SQET, SAMT and CUPE Quebec have urgently called on the provincial and federal governments to demand that concrete measures be taken. “In 2023, Telus obtained subsidies totalling $53.5 million from François-Philippe Champagne, the minister of Innovation, Sciences and Industry. Our money should not used to move our jobs elsewhere or to make Quebec expertise vanish into thin air. These innovation subsidies should create, not cost, jobs,” said Pouliot.