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Hostilities erupted Friday as two feuding camps of Telus workers came together to vote on a tentative contract.
More than 2,000 members of the Telecommunications Workers Union packed an exhibit hall in the Big Four Building at a tension-filled ratification meeting.
TWU president Bruce Bell is urging Telus employees in Alberta and B.C. to approve the five-year deal, which merges six separate collective agreements into one.
"I am asking you to vote yes, as I believe it is the best we can achieve under the current circumstances," Bell said in an Oct. 17 letter to union members. "We have succeeded in engaging the company in collective bargaining, and believe it is now time for you to end the dispute."
But some workers, who have been on the picket line for 13 weeks, say the deal doesn't go far enough to protect jobs and makes union members vulnerable to contracting out.
Telus, meanwhile, insists contracting out under its proposed offer will be limited and no one will lose his or her job as a result.
"I'm definitely going to vote no," said Bruce, a Telus employee who declined to give his last name. "Should this tentative agreement be ratified, what's to stop the company from closing call centres, or doing anything it pleases?"
Aside from a few minor details, the proposed deal appears similar to an earlier pact rejected by the TWU, said shop steward Scott Slade.
"My personal response is 'hell no.' I didn't stand outside for three months to be given an offer that is the same -- if not worse -- than what we were presented originally," said Slade.
Others disagree.
"I personally like the contract. It's not perfect, but in this day and age I don't believe there is such a thing as a perfect contract," said one TWU member.
Tensions boiled over as union members who have picketed against Telus jeered on-the-job bargaining unit employees as they entered the building. Picket captains and security staff kept hostilities from becoming physical while police kept close watch on the scene from the parking lot.
At one point, a TWU member -- dressed in a business suit and wearing a cardboard mask of Telus CEO Darren Entwistle -- walked the line carrying a jug of KoolAid, intimating a connection to cult leader Jim Jones.
Meanwhile, Telus managers waited in a nearby building to escort on-the-job union staff home on rented buses after the meeting.
"We really want to stand back and let the union discuss the offer with the members, and let them make a decision based on what they feel is appropriate for them," said Telus spokesman Jim Johannsson.
"We're doing our best to avoid any situation that creates tension."
Telus -- which argues it needs flexibility to adapt and compete in the telecommunications industry -- said it will start the process of bringing employees back to work within 72 hours, if the offer is ratified.
Telus's first priority must be to heal the rift between employees, said Yonatan Reshef, an industrial relations professor at the University of Alberta.
"The company has to be willing to mend the relationship and show some goodwill. It's the only way forward," Reshef said.
Friday's vote in Calgary was the sixth of 21 such meetings the union will conduct across Alberta and B.C. and parts of Ontario and Quebec. Results are expected Oct. 30.
The TWU has been without a contract for almost five years, with both sides meeting at the bargaining table more than 200 times.