NDP condemns Bell worker reduction plan, calls it ‘corporate greed’

The federal NDP condemned Bell’s workforce reduction plan that could see the company cut as many as 1,200 jobs.

The party’s labour critic, MP Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre) and heritage critic MP Niki Ashton (Churchill-Keewatinook Aski) published a joint statement on the NDP website, calling Bell’s reduction plan “corporate greed at its worst.”

“For far too long, Canada’s telecom giants have been putting shareholders before their workers, continuing to outsource jobs and jack up telecom prices on Canadians. Instead of outsourcing Canadian jobs, Bell should be investing in Canada,” they said.

Green and Ashton also took aim at the Liberals and Conservatives. The pair criticized the Liberals for allowing telecom greed to “run rampant” while subsidizing “profits with public dollars.” And they accused the Conservatives of promoting a strategy that “maximizes profits at the expense of workers and Canadians.”

The NDP said it would stand up for Canadians and bring consequences for telecom companies. Specifically, Green and Ashton said an NDP government would use “existing tools like the CRTC” and “ending federal contracts” to hold telcos accountable.

However, it seems like existing tools might not be sufficient. Multiple politicians took Bell to task last year over the restructuring plan that led to 4,800 layoffs, but a year later, the company is still cutting jobs with few consequences.

In 2023, the Competition Bureau failed to stop Rogers’ $26 billion takeover of Shaw despite valid concerns about the deal’s impact on competition in the telecom sector. While Rogers claims the deal “increased choice,” the reality is prices increased for Canadians in the wake of the merger.

Elsewhere, the Big Three continue to raise the cost of connection fees despite a 2024 amendment to the Telecommunications Act prohibiting fees for switching providers. Rogers raised its connection fee to $75 this week, just seven months after it last increased the fee.

Further, the CRTC just allowed incumbent telcos to access the wholesale framework and resell each others’ fibre networks, a move widely criticized as harmful to competition. Meanwhile, Bell said it would reduce fibre expansions in response, and then raised internet prices for Canadians again.