FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TELUS shipping Canadian jobs overseas along with access to customer account information
Vancouver, BC – July 5, 2007 – The Union representing workers at TELUS, Western
Canada's largest phone company, is alarmed at the ongoing loss of hundreds of Canadian
jobs to the Philippines and other overseas locations. The Telecommunications Workers Union
(TWU) also has grave concerns about customer privacy issues based on the fact that workers
outside Canadian jurisdiction are accessing customer records.
On June 18, TELUS shipped forty more Canadian jobs to Manila, the capital of the
Philippines. By year's end, 200 Filipino workers will be fielding calls from TELUS
Mobility cell phone customers across Canada. These calls had previously been answered
exclusively by Canadian service representatives in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. On
June 20, the Union learned that TELUS was shipping even more work overseas, including
business billing inquiries.
"After the labour dispute in 2005, TELUS assured us it would not outsource any more
Canadian jobs to India or the Philippines," said George Doubt, President of the TWU.
"Yet the company has continued to redirect customers' calls to workers abroad. They
don't publicize it because they know customers will be concerned when they discover their
personal and business phone records are being accessed in foreign countries."
TELUS claims that this is the first time cell phone clients will speak with agents in the
Philippines, but overseas workers already take calls for other TELUS departments,
including Operator-handled calls, home phone Customer Service and Internet technical
support.
"Customers are suffering because of deteriorating service," added Doubt,
"yet TELUS is taking jobs away from qualified Canadian workers and sending them to
unskilled, poorly-paid workers overseas. In addition to the issue of jobs, we're concerned
about the lack of privacy rights. Canada has stringent laws governing access to private
customer information. Consumers have reason to be concerned about who has access to their
personal phone records, and who they're talking to when they give out credit card numbers
and billing information over the phone."
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Media contact: Sid Shniad at 604-437-8601
About the Telecommunications Workers Union: Headquartered in Burnaby, B.C. and affiliated
with the Canadian Labour Congress, the TWU represents workers in Canada's
telecommunications industry. The Union represents more than 11,000 workers in British
Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. The majority of TWU members are
employed at TELUS and TELUS Mobility.