TEAM Update May 14th 2013

TEAM MEMO
To:            All TEAM-IFPTE Local 161 Members
From:        TEAM Office
Date:         May 14, 2013
Re:            TEAM Update


MTS Annual General Meeting of Shareholders

Bob Linsdell, TEAM Executive Director, addressed the Board and CEO at the 2013 MTS AGM.  As we were limited to one question, we tried to capture the main sentiment expressed by you in response to the call for questions. 

“I am Bob Linsdell; I am a shareholder and an employee on leave from MTS.  I am also the Executive Director of TEAM, the union representing over 1,200 managers and professionals working at MTS, many of whom are shareholders.  TEAM also holds shares in MTS.

My question is directed to the Board.  The employees and shareholders that I represent drive the business and consistently deliver your results.  They have never let you down, and they want to know why, on top of the two-year pay freeze they accepted in 2010, you would now offer them a zero, zero and zero percent salary increase, serve notice that you are terminating their Collective Agreement and threaten to change their working conditions and potentially lock them out if they don’t acquiesce?  To reiterate, these employees have never let you down.”

We were astonished to hear the CEO state “in terms of a salary freeze, every single employee in the Company has gone through that at one point over the last five years.”  Neither CEP nor IBEW employees have “gone through that”The full exchange is available at 46:40 to 50:44 of the AGM webcast.

Pension Lawsuit

The Supreme Court of Canada will hear the Telecommunication Employees Association of Manitoba Inc. - International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 161 et al. v. Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. et al. (Man.) (Civil) (By Leave) (34763) at 9:00 am EST, Thursday May 16, 2013.  Click here to watch the live webcast of the proceedings.


TEAM-IFPTE Local 161
204-984-9470 or 1-877-984-9470
[email protected]
www.teamunion.mb.ca
facebook.com/teamunion161
@teamunion161