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CEP members accept Bell’s latest offer



Montreal -Members of UNI's Canadian affioliate, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) who work as technicians for Bell Canada in Québec and Ontario have accepted by a proportion of 59% the company’s latest offer. Today’s announcement follows two weeks of meetings in Québec and Ontario where members voted on the offer. The union had recommended acceptance.



“Bargaining was very difficult, the two first offers of the company having been rejected,” says CEP Ontario Administrative Vice-President John Edwards. “It must be said that the employer demanded many concessions from the start but we managed to eliminate several of the major irritants.”



Highlights of the new agreement include:

• A five-year collective agreement ensuring job security, especially because of the possibility of a sale;
  
• Wage increases;
  
• Protection of gains with respect to fringe benefits of active employees;
  
• Reclassification of 50% of part-time status employees to permanent status, which will consolidate their jobs;
  
• Improvements in the holidays that may be taken in summer.

Besides the 5,000 craft and services employees working for Bell Canada in Ontario and Québec, CEP represents the majority of telecommunication workers in Canada, with 45,000 members in this sector.