Unifor demands greater transparency from Crowns Minister Don Morgan

REGINA, SK, March 31, 2023 /CNW/ - The Sask Party government must stop shielding information about where outsourced SaskTel jobs are heading and come clean about why Crown corporation jobs are leaving Saskatchewan, says Unifor.

"The people of Saskatchewan deserve answers about why Minister Don Morgan is so eager to send good jobs to Alberta and overseas," said Len Poirier, Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer. "SaskTel is owned by the people of Saskatchewan. Let's make it do better to employ the people of Saskatchewan."

As recently as February 1, 2023, ten jobs left SecurTek, a subsidiary of SaskTel, under a contract tendered out to a third party. After SaskTel refused to provide information about the company awarded the jobs, Unifor uncovered that the contractor, a company called Viiz, appears to be a Calgary-based company with a single voting shareholder, WiMacTel Canada. WiMacTel Canada's relationship to California-based WiMacTel Inc is unclear.

Unifor representatives say contracting out jobs to Viiz was a tactic to avoid paying SaskTel operator-level wages after April 1, 2023, when SecurTek is subsumed back under SaskTel's corporate structure.

"We need a government that fights for every good job. Instead, the Sask Party government has become an expert at sending Crown jobs to Alberta and who knows where else–they won't even tell us," said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor Western Regional Director.

Over the last several years, it is estimated that nearly 2,000 SaskTel jobs have been contracted out to out-of-province companies or firms overseas.

After a new proposal to outsource unionized SaskTel jobs surfaced on government websites in early March 2023, Unifor demanded a moratorium on contracting out to protect good jobs and the integrity of SaskTel service.

Unifor represents 2,350 SaskTel workers from every region in Saskatchewan.

Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.

SOURCE Unifor

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