CEP the union for employees of Bell TV, wholly owned by Bell Canada Enterprise, has announced that Bell has served notice to lock out employees at 12:01 am on July 14.
CEP states they have locked out 114 members of CEP Local 79M, the television technicians that maintain and distribute television signals by satellite and internet to the more than 2 million Bell customers across Canada.
The union has been negotiating with the company since April 2011 to achieve a first collective agreement. On July 6, Bell presented a non-negotiable offer. The members rejected the company's offer by 88 per cent on June 10.
Shortly after, the union received notice that Bell was locking out the employees.
Some of the key issues in the dispute are wages, wage grids, vacations, workplace adjustments and industry language.