Hello members,

As part of Telus’ continued attacks on good paying Canadian jobs, the Union has been informed that Voluntary Severance Packages (VSPs) and Early Retirement Incentive Plans (ERIPs) have been offered to Craft members. This VSP/ERIP offer has been sent out to roughly 700 members, however the company claims their target number of departures is only a small percentage of those who were offered.

The members who have been targeted for this package are the very workers who build, maintain, and help keep Telus’ network running day in and day out. Craft workers have seen the company’s operations crumbling with each round of VSPs, as needed talent and experience leave the organization. Yet Telus continues to operate under the delusion from higher-ups that the workforce can be cut deeper and deeper, and that the resulting harm to customers and to our infrastructure is worth the short-term savings. 

Recent experience has shown that with VSP offerings often comes management pressure and even manipulation to try to maximize the number of members accepting departure.

If you find that you are being put under undue pressure by management to accept a VSP please reach out to your Local Union Representative, or the Union office at contact@usw1944.ca. Your Local Union Representatives will be contacting Telus Labour Relations to discuss any attempts by the company to force members to accept a package if they do not wish to.

The continued success and profitability that Telus has enjoyed for the past 25+ years cannot come at the expense of the workers who have helped build this company into what it is today. Your Union will keep fighting to protect jobs and working conditions for all members.

In Solidarity,
USW Local 1944