January 18, 2021 - Hello Members,

By now, you may have seen management’s January 14th email announcing Telus’ Ergonomic Subsidy and Internet Subsidy for those who qualify to enter the “At Home Agent Evolution” program in Q2.

Starting as soon as Covid-19 started to impact our worklives the Union has been in constant contact with Telus management in order to represent your experiences and your viewpoints, trying to ensure that you and your work were properly respected. A major issue from the very beginning has always been the lack of a guaranteed ergonomic workplace at your home office, something we considered a basic right. It has always been a contradiction in Telus’ Covid response that members were rushed out of their offices for their safety, but that members have been doing work in an unsafe manner at home this entire time.

It stood to reason that getting the most immediate needs dealt with first like setting members up with computers and the ability to work from home was proper and reasonable. Accordingly, Telus did a good job of this in their initial stage. Then, they stalled and sputtered. 

First, we asked that members be allowed to take their work chairs home, and this was at first dismissed as it would void the warranty on the chairs and other such nonsense, like tracking them! Next, we asked that at least a subsidy be put in place for chairs and other furniture like desks as well.  It is good to see that this has finally occurred, but there was no credible reason to delay this from last March until now. It is also unjust for Telus to allow retroactive reimbursement for ergonomic needs to those who qualify for the new AHAe program in Q2, and then offer no reimbursement for those who incurred ergonomics expenses but will not qualify for AHAe. What does hitting your metrics have to do with being reimbursed for your health and safety expenses? On this point, Telus is simply being outrageous in a detrimental way. What if you would rather work in the office? No reimbursement for you.

The Internet Subsidy is also welcome but is also long overdue. The program ought not to have ever been discontinued. Members should never have to pay for their own work equipment, this has been a Union principle for over 100 years, so it’s sad to see that this is still a challenge at a wealthy corporation in the 21st century.

The changes nonetheless show the importance of letting your Union know what you are experiencing at work. Many members completed our Covid-19 Check-in Survey in June, with many reporting not only that they desired these changes, but that they were experiencing new strains and injuries due to their inadequate ergonomic situation. Your stories regarding the challenges you’ve been facing have been consistently and emphatically relayed to Telus management, so it is indeed about time that they...

July 22

July 14

July 8

July 2

June 25

June 17

June 10

June 4

May 20

May 6

April 29

...

Le 18 janvier 2021 - Chers membres,

Vous avez sans doute déjà pris connaissance du courriel envoyé le 14 janvier par la direction pour annoncer l’allocation ergonomique et Internet de Telus pour ceux qui sont admissibles au programme de télétravail évolué au cours du deuxième trimestre. 

Dès que la Covid-19 a commencé à avoir un impact sur nos vies professionnelles, le syndicat s’est mis en contact avec la direction de Telus de façon constante afin de représenter vos expériences et vos points de vue, en nous efforçant de vous faire respecter, vous et votre travail, comme il se doit. Depuis le début, un problème majeur a été l’absence de garantie d’un lieu de travail ergonomique à votre bureau à domicile, ce qui est selon nous un droit fondamental. Les mesures mises en place par Telus pour répondre à la Covid ont toujours été marquées par une contradiction : les membres ont été expulsés de leurs bureaux au nom de leur sécurité, mais depuis tout ce temps ils travaillent dans des conditions non sécuritaires.

Il était logique que les besoins les plus immédiats soient traités en premier, comme l’installation d’ordinateurs et la capacité de travailler à domicile, étaient convenables et raisonnables. En conséquence, Telus a fait du bon travail à cet égard dans sa phase initiale. Ensuite, ils se sont traînés les pieds. 

Dans un premier temps, nous avons demandé à ce que les membres soient autorisés à ramener leurs chaises de travail à la maison, ce qui a d’abord été refusé sous prétexte de raisons absurdes telles que l’annulation des garanties des chaises et leur suivi ! Ensuite, nous avons demandé qu’une subvention soit au moins mise en place pour les chaises et autres meubles comme les bureaux. Il est bon de voir que cela s’est finalement produit, mais il n’y avait aucune raison crédible de laisser traîner cela depuis mars dernier jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Il est également injuste que Telus autorise le remboursement rétroactif de l’achat de mobilier ergonomique à ceux qui se qualifient pour le nouveau programme de télétravail évolué au deuxième trimestre, mais n’offre aucun remboursement à ceux qui ont engagé des dépenses d’ergonomie mais ne seront pas admissibles au programme de télétravail évolué. En quoi le fait d’atteindre vos paramètres conditionnés devrait-it affecter le remboursement de vos dépenses de santé et de sécurité ? Sur ce point, la décision de Telus est tout simplement scandaleuse et vous porte préjudice. Et si vous préfériez travailler au bureau ? Pas de remboursement pour vous.

Quant à l’allocation Internet, elle est la bienvenue, mais il y a longtemps qu’elle se fait attendre. Le programme n’aurait jamais dû être supprimé. Les membres ne devraient jamais avoir à payer pour leur propre équipement de travail, c’est un principe syndical depuis plus de 100 ans, et c’est triste de constater que...

If you have ANY questions at all, please stop by the learning center or call 219-398-9363.

USW Rapid Response released a summary of all of its actions in 2020. USW is constantly working to advance the causes of workers and organized labor legislatively and through other activism. The collective voice of our membership cannot be ignored. Open the PDF below to review our 2020 actions as well as who supported our causes and who did not. Watch for future Rapid Response actions in 2021, and be ready to act with calls to your elected representatives in Washington. To stay up to date on these actions, follow USW Rapid Response on social media, and sign up to receive InfoAlerts and ActionCalls by email.

Year In Review PDF

Join email list: [email protected]

Sign up for mobile alerts: Text uswrapid to the number 69866

Facebook page

Friday, Jan. 15, marked the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who would have been 92 years old. Due to precautions for the coronavirus, Local 8888 will not host its annual commemoration of Dr. King’s birthday and the national MLK Holiday, Jan. 18. Nonetheless, Local 8888 joins with our other USW sisters and brothers who are honoring Dr. King’s uplifting legacy of progressive vision and activism. Local 8888 President Charles Spivey has issued an MLK statement on behalf of the union. In it, he says America needs to reset its moral compass. “Either we fight for a society where all would benefit and prosper or we surrender to hate and privilege and bigots who want to push us back into the segregated 1950s.” 

Read President Spivey’s full statement.

PAY CHECKS

As many of you have noticed we are having issues with our paychecks being correct since we have moved to ADP and SAP.  I personally have been shorted substantially and want our membership to know that we are working diligently to resolve this issue. Please review your check stubs through ADP and contact a committee member if you have a discrepancy. You may check Workday for any potential errors before the check dated 1/8/2021. Although, it appears the errors did not occur before the 1/8/2021 check.  Jaqueline Taylor has been working on this issue and you will need to get a printout or screen shot of you check stub to present to her.

Thanks for your Cooperation!