Bell sheds 19 more Manitoba employees

At least 19 Manitoba jobs were lost recently during Bell Canada’s ongoing restructuring.

Parent company BCE Inc. confirmed in June it’d axe nearly 700 jobs through organizational changes. Those changes began last year.

A dozen Manitoba staff were laid off on July 30, according to Team-IFPTE Local 161, the union representing the workers.

Another seven union members left voluntarily though a departure program, the union reported Tuesday.

“These are highly skilled telecommunication workers,” said Carrie Sanderson, Team’s executive director. “They have decades of experience, for some of them.”

Workers occupied professional roles — such as supervisors — in IT, network and finance departments, Sanderson said.

“We’re concerned about … the future of our workforce, the future of our economy, what Bell … is going to look like in five or 10 years from now,” she said.

Bell came under fire last month after 911 access was lost for hours outside Winnipeg.

Fewer staff in Manitoba will likely translate to slower response times on the ground, Sanderson said.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 435 didn’t see membership layoffs last month, but positions that were once supposed to be filled have been cut, said Richard Ferris, the union’s business manager.

About 70 Manitoba roles were axed last year, Ferris added. He estimated there are 82 fewer technician positions year-over-year.

“We’re very disappointed with Bell,” Ferris said. “We’d like to see them fill these positions and start hiring technicians so that we don’t experience things like the recent 911 outage.”

Bell bought Manitoba Telecom Services in 2017. At the time, Team-IFPTE Local 161 represented roughly 900 MTS workers; the number has dropped to about 350 with Bell, the union says.

It’s reviewing whether the layoff process was completed properly. If not, Team will begin the collective agreement’s grievance process, Sanderson said.

Unifor also represents Bell workers. It learned of job cuts to 180 members in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario last June. It didn’t respond to questions about Manitoba Tuesday.

The cuts are part of ongoing business operations and reflect various initiatives, such as the migration of customers to an “easier-to-maintain fibre network and ongoing operating efficiencies,” Bell spokeswoman Elise von Scheel wrote in a statement.

Bell offered voluntary separation packages to eligible unionized employees before the layoffs, she wrote.

There is no impact on operations, and artificial intelligence is not a factor, von Scheel added.

BCE said in 2025 it’d strive to find $1.5 billion in cost savings by 2028 through a company-wide transformation.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com