Canada-based telecommunication giant Bell has laid off more than 400 employees in short virtual group conferences, the union representative said, accusing the move “beyond disgraceful, disgusting’. The workers’ union informed the telecom giant termed the sacked workers as “excess” in brief 10-minute virtual group meetings, adding that the workers were handed service termination announcements depriving anyone to ask questions.
Our associates, who have dedicated years of service to this telecoms and media giant, are repaid with pink slips, Unifor’s Quebec administrator informed. However, Bell did not accept this report and said the business had been clear with union leadership for more than five weeks concerning the layoff procedure and had met its responsibilities.
Terminated workers also had separate HR consultations to confer compensation packages, the company said. It is significant to note that the telecom giant had in February, proclaimed its requirement to remove 4,800 positions, around 9% of its staff. Bell CEO Mirko Bibic had termed the cuts required to “streamline our group and accelerate our change” on an earnings call.
However, the layoff pronouncement was disapproved as the company concurrently elevated its dividend payout to shareholders. Workers’ union Unifor said the fact is Bell selected several heads to roll so it could surge its dividend payout with no actual strategy on which careers and which employees would be removed so the terminations are brutally dragged out.
Our devoted, loyal employees, who are mainly women, will have to explain to their families that they are being sacked from Bell for no good purpose other than making certain that their stockholders and Board of Directors come first when receiving pay. It’s disgusting, the Unifor added.
Separately, the Italian-American carmaker Stellantis has laid off over 400 workers in its manufacturing, software, and technology departments across the United States. How the terminations were approved has raised concerns and reignited debates around appropriate layoff protocol.
According to information, Stellantis educated staff to appear on a compulsory distant work day on Friday, March 22, under the excuse of “vital operational seminars,” as mentioned by Moneycontrol.
In an announcement sent the earlier day, the carmaker stated, we will be conducting significant operational meetings that necessitate precise attention and involvement. To confirm everyone can successfully participate, we have decided to activate a compulsory remote work day.
However, during the distance call, white-collar employees were informed that they were being laid off. Livemint could not confirm this news development.
