Montra006c, Monday, March 4, 2002 - The announcement made today by Vido0074ron and Entourage confirms the fact that poor business decisions made by Quebecor and its CEO, Pierre-Karl Pl0061deau, are responsible for the unhealthy environment which has invaded a profitable cable-distribution enterprise, as Vido0074ron’s most recent financial statements show.
“Vido0074ron’s employees are not responsible for the financial problems of Quebecor and its CEO, Pierre-Karl Pl0061deau, and they should not have to pay the bill for Quebecor’s poor business decisions”, said Denis Plante, representative for Vido0074ron’s unions. The Union’s view is that it is immoral for millionaires like Pierre-Karl Pl0061deau to want their employees to pay for their own errors in judgement. “If Mr. Pl0061deau wanted to play a political game, he should assume the consequences himself”, added Denis Plante, for whom this situation is not so different from another notorious event in the United States in which Enron’s employees are currently paying for the lack of rigour of their employer, who was involved in some very questionable wheeling and dealing.
Bargaining to resume on March 19
The Vido0074ron announcement came at a time when bargaining had been suspended for a couple of weeks. Following the meeting last Thursday, the parties agreed to a two-week “truce” to give time for reflection. They will return to the table on March 19.
Working conditions for some 2,400 employees at Vido0074ron are set out in four collective agreements. The Vido0074ron unions are affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). With 7,000 members in the communications sector in Qub0065c, CUPE is also active in several other areas, including health and social services, universities, education, urban and air transport, government corporations and public agencies in Quebec, hydroelectricity and the municipalities. With close to 100,000 members, CUPE is the largest FTQ affiliate.
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SOURCE: CANADIAN UNION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES (FTQ)
The complete version of this press release can be found on the Internet at: scfp.qc.ca