Weekly Update: July 10 - July 17

Layoffs at ADT by Telus

As mentioned in the last Weekly Update, 17 Voluntary Severance Packages had been offered in June at ADT by Telus, to all Customer Service call centre agents. There was a low acceptance rate for the VSPs and so ADT by Telus has now resorted to reissuing the VSPs and officially informing agents that if they do not accept their VSP offer they will be laid off. It’s now a forced VSP, essentially a layoff with the VSP as severance. The company says the work is being contracted out. 

The company won’t disclose whether the work is going overseas or staying in Canada. If it’s going overseas, then ADT by Telus is siphoning Canadian jobs out of the country at the expense of the quality of security services. If it’s staying in Canada, then ADT by Telus seems to just be interested in de-Unionizing the work, at the expense of quality of security services.

In 2005, after a five-month lockout at Telus, our Telus membership obtained Collective Agreement language that constrains the employer’s ability to lay off due to contracting out (Art 22.01).

Ever since 2005, Telus has not laid off members in the Telus certification because of this, and the Union’s position is that they can not. I mention this only because I don’t want Telus members to think that the company can just lay them off in this same way.

However, no such limitations were able to be obtained within the first ADT by Telus Collective Agreement ratified in 2023. Each bargaining round is different, involving different degrees of relative power between the Union and Company, and different membership priorities. As a result of this dynamic, the ADT by Telus Collective Agreement establishes a process whereby the company must offer VSPs during downsizing, but it does not mention a limitation on layoffs due to contracting out. 

These layoffs are another reminder that ultimately only Union power can protect workers from their employer. The only way to feel secure at work is to band together with your coworkers to form the strongest possible Union, to gain the best hard-coded protective language possible in your Collective Agreement.

The Local’s Executive Board met this week and we are extremely saddened at the news of these callous layoffs, which hurt our members, our economy, and quality of service. Shame on ADT by Telus.

In Solidarity,

Michael Phillips
President
USW Local 1944