Unifor is standing up for SaskTel
Unifor members work for SaskTel across the province, delivering world-class service at one of the most unique and important public utilities in Canada.
Scott Moe is slowly destroying SaskTel
The Scott Moe government is undermining good jobs and good customer service at SaskTel with unprecedented contracting out.
Over the last several years, it is estimated that nearly 1,000 SaskTel jobs have been contracted out to out-of-province companies or firms overseas.
The government claims "there have been no lay-offs" because most of the contracting out has happened through attrition (retirements)—when a unionized SaskTel worker retires or takes work elsewhere, that job is contracted out to firms with substandard wages and substandard training.
While that is technically not a lay-off, it is a job lost in Saskatchewan and it is privatization. We must protect good, union jobs in this province.
Contracting out is privatization
Scott Moe knows that selling off SaskTel to one of his wealthy corporate donors is a non-starter for Saskatchewan voters.
Instead, he's handing over millions of dollars in contracts on a piecemeal basis to private firms in smaller contracts over time.
This is still privatization, and it hurts SaskTel customers and workers alike.
When work is contracted out, it is sold off to the lowest bidder. In the race to be the lowest bidder, these firms are cutting corners on everything from training to caseload.
Customer service suffers
"you get what you pay for"
When customers are forced to deal with low-bid contractors, service suffers.
SaskTel customers deserve trained professionals who know our products and our plans. You don't deserve "McService" from over-worked, under-trained workers who are not familiar with our unique public telco provider.
You can fight back
We're building a campaign to bargain stronger anti-contracting out language in the collective agreement, but we need your help.
We'll be holding workplace actions in the coming months. For everyone else who supports strong public Crown corporations and good union jobs in Saskatchewan (or if you're a SaskTel customer who want to improve customer service), we'll be sharing graphics, research, and other information to help spread the word about why SaskTel should be strengthened for today and the years to come.
