Bell Canada to Outsource Repair Group Jobs

[Barry]

Members of the Canadian Telecommunications Employees' Association (CTEA) working in Bell Canada's Repair groups learned today that the company will outsource the work to its Business Partners, affecting hundreds of CTEA members in Ontario and Quebec.

Currently, 40% of the work in the Repair division is outsourced to
external companies. Now, Bell Canada will proceed to outsource the rest of the group.

"The CTEA was always proud to represent its members, and our members were always proud to work for a company like Bell. Today, everyone is embarrassed!" says CTEA vice-president Line Brisson.

The repair groups affected include the Consumer market, Small & Medium
Business market and Centrex. These teams, currently made up of approximately 410 employees in both provinces, will be reduced to a personnel of 140. This will result in the closure of the Repair group in Quebec City and
the company will no longer offer teleworking.

"This is just the beginning," says Brisson. "Bell has already sent its
technicians' work to Entourage, its telephone operators to Nordia and today
the company announced that it is sending its Customer Service Repair
Representatives' work to Expertel in Quebec and to Minacs in Ontario. Bell is
attempting to avoid our demands on pay equity by sending our members' work to these companies that pay low wages. All of this is totally unacceptable."

The CTEA will continue to fight Bell to keep the jobs within the company.
It will also ensure its members are treated fairly during the personnel
reduction process.

The Company says there will be no impact on its clients, mentioning that
sub-contractors offer an equivalent service to customers as its employees
provide. The CTEA begs to differ, believing customers will definitely find a
difference in service.

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