Plea For Intervention From Telus

Dear Sirs,
We, the undersigned, demand that your government examine the current bargaining situation between Telus Communications Inc. and the Telecommunications Workers Union.
The current situation continues to cause irreparable damage and hardship to the members of the Telecommunications Workers Union.
This situation may potentially have an adverse affect on all Canadian workers, union and non-union, and businesses if it is allowed to continue. Labour / management relations will be set back decades.
As you may be aware, the Telecommunications Workers Union has been in contract negotiations since November 2000, with no wage increases since January 1, 2000.
Since face-to-face negotiations began, not one item has been agreed to. Telus has made no effort to bargain in good faith, and is far more concerned with focusing on forcing the TWU into a PACCAR situation.
The TWU agreed to binding arbitration when Telus was ordered to offer it to the union by the CIRB as the only means to reaching a fair settlement.
Telus publicly announced that they welcomed binding arbitration, then immediately appealed the Board's order. Telus won that decision 02/02/2005, and now is refusing binding arbitration as a means to a fair and equitable settlement. The CIRB has awarded advantage to Telus, when they overturned the original ruling.
Since April 2005, Telus has forced TWU members into a quasi-lockout situation in order to threaten their employees, and has begun bargaining directly with the employees. Telus has informed the members of the TWU that Telus will no longer honour numerous aspects of its various contracts, including deduction of union dues, ending grievance and arbitration procedures, and canceling certain time off provisions not yet scheduled.
Telus acts as if it can make the rules, and break the rules.
You, as our elected representatives, need to intervene now.
Telus has to be forced to bargain directly with the TWU's bargaining committee as required by law.
The TWU has to have support from the Government of Canada, which will require Telus to follow the established labour laws in Canada.
Is the Government of Canada going to stand idly by while Telus and Darren Entwistle create a "wild west" precedent that will sour business and labour negotiations for years to come?

Please note that as of August 18th, 2005 the original petition with 3126 signatures was closed. This petition is to replace the old and clean up grammerical errors. - SB