Unifor, Canada’s general trade union, condemned Bell over workforce reduction plans that could lead to the company cutting another 1,200 workers.
The company has already offered packages to these 1,200 workers, calling it an “enhanced voluntary separation program” for eligible employees to either find new jobs or retire. The program doesn’t include Bell Media.
A Bell spokesperson confirmed to CBC News that the company is changing, and its organizational changes, including moving customers to fibre networks, could lead to reduced workloads and require fewer positions.
In response to the reduction plan, Unifor president Lana Payne said, “Workforce reduction plans are a damaging stunt to temporarily reduce costs, making profits appear higher on the backs of workers. Bell cannot keep cutting jobs every year and expect the ship to turn itself around.”
She added, “Canada is potentially facing a trade war with the U.S., and Bell has chosen to once again leave Canadian workers unemployed in part to satisfy its move into the American market.”
Bell has laid off a lot of its workforce in the past year.
In February 2024, Bell cut 4,800 jobs under a restructuring plan; the company also laid off 1,000 the Source employees, closed more than 107 stores and shuttered operations in its head office. Additionally, it laid off 120 of Expertech employees before the winter holidays, and in June, there was a 50-person job cut at Bell Media.
This was all before the announcement that the company acquired Ziply Fiber, a fibre internet provider in the U.S., for $5 billion CAD, as well as paying off the company’s outstanding net debt of $2 billion.
“The question that we’re all asking is, ‘where does it end?’ After a few more years of this Mirko Bibic will look up and realize that Bell Canada is just three contractors in a trench coat, and by then it will be too late,” said Payne in the Unifor release.
It’s unclear how many people Bell will lay off as it waits to see who accepts the enhanced voluntary packages or (early) retirements.
“We have informed the unions that Bell Canada is looking to introduce an enhanced voluntary separation program for up to approximately 1,200 eligible unionized employees. A voluntary program will be less disruptive for our employees, customers and company,” Bell said in an email.
“Volunteering for an enhanced package will provide eligible unionized employees an option to retire or pursue new career opportunities. Bell Media is excluded from this planned voluntary separation program.”
It continued to say it is planning the voluntary program “because Canada’s telecommunications industry continues to face unprecedented challenges and our business is changing. Several organizational initiatives, and migrating customers to a more resilient and easier to maintain fibre network, have resulted in reduced workloads requiring fewer positions.”
“The planned VSP is for eligible unionized team members across Canada. Bell continues to invest in key growth areas that enhance the customer experience and grow the business.”
