REGINA—Unifor has uncovered more contracting out of permanent, unionized jobs on the site simplyhired.ca, the fourth such discovery this year by the union.

“Scott Moe needs to answer to SaskTel customers and the people of Saskatchewan: why the rush to replace good jobs with low-bid contractors and out-of-province firms?” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor Western Regional Director.

The latest job posting for a “Major Telecom Sales Representative” at Berks Payment Solutions is work that has historically been done by full-time SaskTel employees, says Mike Pilipow, President of Unifor Local 2-S.

“This is union work, pure and simple,” said Pilipow. “Contracting sales representative work to a third party is part of a dangerous pattern at SaskTel under the Sask Party that results in lower job security for workers and poor service for the customer.”

Earlier this year, Unifor raised concerns about contracting out of union work at SaskTel, including it’s SecurTek division and DirectWest.

“Unbridled contracting out will be dealt with at the bargaining table during our next contract talks, you can count on that,” said Pilipow. “Until this is resolved in the collective agreement, the government should protect good jobs with a moratorium on contracting out at SaskTel.”

Unifor strongly opposes Bell Media’s application to the CRTC to eliminate all regulatory requirements for local news at all of its CTV, CTV2 and Noovo stations across Canada. We will do everything in our power to ensure that Bell Media continues to live up to its legislated obligations to fund and create local news and programming.

Local news is essential to a healthy democracy, and protecting and promoting the creation of Canadian cultural content and local programming is a fundamental principle for Canadian media policy and legislation. If approved, Bell Media’s outrageous and misguided scheme would deprive the Canadian public of vital local news and programming, while putting hundreds of highly-trained and professional journalists out of work.

The funding model that supported local news and programming for decades has collapsed, and it is clear that broadcasters and news outlets need a new policy framework that will deliver sustainable and ongoing funding. The federal government and the CRTC are moving ahead with the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11) and the Online News Act (C-18), which will deliver new revenue streams for domestic broadcasters and news outlets.

After years of waiting for much-needed reforms, we are on the cusp of a new deal for domestic broadcasters and local news outlets. Bell Media’s application to the CRTC is premature, and a slight to the many organizations and individuals who have worked hard to build a viable path forward local news and programming in Canada.

Our union will be filing a formal response with the CRTC in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, we call on BCE and Bell Media to rescind these applications and recommit to providing professional, high quality local news and programming for communities across the country.

BCE’s application was filed on June 14th, the same day that BCE Inc. announced it was laying off 1,300 workers (3% of BCE’s workforce), including 340 layoffs within Bell Media (6% of that division’s workforce), plus the shuttering six AM radio stations, and the closure or scaling back of three foreign bureaus.