Bell Canada’s executives are facing organized opposition from their own workers as Canada’s largest private sector union mobilizes thousands of telecommunications employees for the company’s upcoming shareholder meeting.
Unifor announced Wednesday it has written to more than 21,000 workers at BCE and its subsidiaries, encouraging them to participate in the company’s virtual annual general meeting on May 8 and vote against the board’s executive compensation package.
“Bell can expect our union to be vocal when the executives continue to cut good jobs while rewarding themselves with fat bonuses,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “We are asking shareholders to examine the facts: more layoffs, a stunning drop in profits, and lucrative executive bonuses.”
Union strategy targets AGM participation
The campaign specifically targets BCE’s executive compensation practices, which union leaders characterize as excessive given recent job cuts across the company’s divisions.
Unifor has reached out to 19,000 telecommunications workers and 2,100 Bell Media employees, many of whom hold shares in the company through employee ownership programs.
“We’re asking members to vote no on the board’s approach to executive compensation,” said Unifor Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier. “Doling out multi-million-dollar bonuses while you cut thousands of jobs is simply not something that Unifor members, as workers and as shareholders, can abide by.”
Ongoing campaign against job reductions
The shareholder action follows Unifor’s “Shame on Bell” campaign launched earlier this year, which criticized the telecom giant for contracting out and offshoring jobs while reducing Canadian newsroom staff.
That campaign also called on Bell to reduce dividend payouts to shareholders and instead reinvest those funds in employee wellbeing, infrastructure, and job security.
The May 8 meeting agenda includes board member elections, three shareholder proposals, and an advisory vote on executive compensation.
While shareholders’ say-on-pay votes are not binding in Canada, significant opposition can create pressure on corporate boards to reconsider their compensation practices.
Unifor represents more than 320,000 members across various sectors, including approximately 55,000 in Quebec, where it is affiliated with the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec.
