TEAM Meets with Manitoba Minister of Labour

On March 26 TEAM/IFPTE Local 161 and IFPTE representatives, Dave Eyjolfson, Erin Spencer, Bill Fitzpatrick, and Anna Liu participated in a meeting with the Manitoba Minister of Labour and Immigration, the Honourable Malaya Marcelino. The meeting was held due to TEAM’s outreach to the Minister’s office requesting to discuss the impact of job losses at Bell/MTS and the company’s recent announcement to cut approximately 4,800 positions. 

During the meeting, TEAM talked about the importance and legacy of good telco jobs in the Manitoba economy for over 100 years. Under Bell’s leadership, the company has cut nearly 1000 jobs in the province. After hearing TEAM’s presentation, the Minister voiced her concern at the loss of jobs and was willing to pursue a dialogue to explore the need for keeping good jobs in Manitoba. The Minister also committed to helping us raise awareness of the issue by connecting the Local with other ministers to explore avenues further.

TEAM looks forward to building on the groundwork they have laid to keep telecommunications jobs in Manitoba.