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Union Goes On The Attack To Shame Bell Over Cuts
Unifor gave Bell Media an earful in Ottawa on Thursday, staging a major rally to protest the cutting of 6,000 jobs in February and last year. Many of those terminated were members, while the union also complains that at the same time, Bell shareholders reaped huge rewards.
"We demand to know why Bell and the BCE board of directors slashed 6,000 jobs in a matter of months," excoriated union boss Lana Payne. "We demand to know why Bell and the BCE board of directors paid out its highest ever dividends to shareholders while axing thousands of jobs.
"We demand to know why Bell is moving telecommunication jobs out of Canada to low-wage countries. We demand to know why Bell has decimated newsrooms and local and national news programs across this country. We are here to say loudly and clearly shame on Bell and shame on its Board of Directors."
The union also trotted out former CTV & Global news veteran Kevin Newman to complain about the erosion of news and the cutbacks at the company. He was especially upset by the end of W5 as a weekly show, one of the longest running such programs in Canadian history.
For its part, Bell insists the problem lies with the federal government, which it says has not moved fast enough to change the funding rules to help it support its local news divisions. The company insists it's losing a fortune on its news every year and simply can't afford to keep it at its current levels.
All this follows one Bell executive explaining why his company recently sold 45 stations and closed six others, by insisting that radio is no longer a "viable" business. The new owners who bought the properties would appear to disagree.
Unifor stages ‘Shame on Bell’ rally in Ottawa
- mace
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Re: Union Goes On The Attack To Shame Bell Over Cuts
Like Bell cares what the union thinks.
- paterson1
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Re: Union Goes On The Attack To Shame Bell Over Cuts
BCE in all their different businesses let about 6,000 go over the past two years. Too many posts and media stories have read like Bell Media has let 6,000 people go. Bell Media in total employs about 5,000 people, and even with the layoffs over the last few years have also continued to hire.
- turkeytop
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Re: Union Goes On The Attack To Shame Bell Over Cuts
mace wrote:
Like Bell cares what the union thinks.
The Union is their employees, Bell ought to care.
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
- RadioAaron
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Re: Union Goes On The Attack To Shame Bell Over Cuts
BCE in all their different businesses let about 6,000 go over the past two years. Too many posts and media stories have read like Bell Media has let 6,000 people go. Bell Media in total employs about 5,000 people, and even with the layoffs over the last few years have also continued to hire.
That's the damage getting into media has done to the Bell brand overall. (which wasn't great to begin with)
- RadioActive
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Re: Union Goes On The Attack To Shame Bell Over Cuts
Another 400+ jobs gone in the most uncaring manner yet. I only hope Bell gets its comeuppance someday. I know that sometimes layoffs have to be done, but there's a humane way to do them and this definitely wasn't it.
What an awful, awful company they are. But I'm sure Mr. Bibic is sleeping quite soundly in his very expensive king sized bed tonight.
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