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Bell Craft Bargaining History, Issue 2 of 8.
The proliferation of contracting out began in small but noticeable ways, with jobs that were described as not “aligned with the core business” such as the digging of pits or pole replacement.
The company continues to chip away, bit by bit- with the formation of Expertech and what is now called BTS, to move away certain types of work. The formation of Progistix and Transervice saw the elimination of the auto mechanics and material handlers from the bargaining unit.
Bell has now begun eliminating certain tasks from the Craft Technicians. Central Offices see a regular flow of contractors in and out doing various types of work on our equipment, and Cable Encapsulated Pit work is now given first to a contractor to see if they can fix it before engaging the cable technician. L1 and L2 tests continue to see their work functions pushed more and more to the clerical bargaining unit.
Finally, the company claims the Outright Sales (ORS) System work has been eliminated in favour of the wholly owned BTC (Bell Total Connect) system. The ORS work is now claimed to be done by non-unionized
companies such as E-WEE, a plan sounding a lot like their 1990’s NEWCO residential plans, which eventually led to the creation of BTS.
There are many more examples and these are just a few but there are so many that it begs the question, what will be left for us?
