Bell layoffs: Canada-based telecom giant Bell has laid off over 400 workers in brief virtual group meetings, the union representing the employees Unifor said, condemning the move “beyond shameful, disgusting’.
The workers’ union said the telecom giant declared the sacked employees as “surplus” in brief 10-minute virtual group meetings, adding that the employees were given the service termination notice without allowing anyone to ask questions.
“Our members, who have devoted years of service to this telecoms and media giant, are being repaid with pink slips,” Unifor’s Quebec director said.
However, Bell rejected the statement and said the company had been transparent with union leadership for over five weeks about the layoff process and had met its obligations.
“Terminated employees also had individual HR meetings to discuss severance packages”, the company added.
It is important to note that the telecom giant had in February, announced its plans to eliminate 4,800 positions, about 9% of its workforce. Bell CEO Mirko Bibic had called the cuts necessary to “simplify our organization and accelerate our transformation” on an earnings call.
However, the layoff decision was criticised as the company simultaneously raised its dividend payout to shareholders.
Workers’ union Unifor said, “The truth is Bell picked a number of heads to roll so it could increase its dividend payout without an actual plan on which jobs and which workers would be eliminated so the terminations are cruelly dragged out.”
“Our dedicated, loyal workers, who are predominately women, will have to explain to their families tonight that they are being let go from Bell for no good reason other than making sure that their shareholders and Board of Directors come first when getting paid. It’s absolutely disgusting,” the Unifor added.
Stellantis lay-off
Separately, the Italian-American automaker Stellantis has laid off over 400 employees in its engineering, software, and technology divisions across the United States.
How the terminations were carried out has raised eyebrows and reignited discussions around appropriate layoff etiquette.
According to reports, Stellantis instructed employees to attend a mandatory remote work day on Friday, March 22, under the guise of “important operational meetings,” as quoted by Moneycontrol.
In a notice sent the previous day, the carmaker stated, “We will be holding important operational meetings that require specific attention and participation. To ensure everyone can effectively participate, we have decided to implement a mandatory remote work day.”
However, during the remote call, white-collar workers were informed that they were being laid off.
Livemint could not independently verify this news development.
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Published: 26 Mar 2024, 05:18 PM IST