anyone working for Bell Technical Solutions? or a field technician?

[chris 1]

I worked at bts for about 8 months before I quit. Your pay starts at 13.20 and you get a $1.00 raise every 6 months. IMO, I think this was one of the easiest jobs ever! This job made me lazier than I already am, but the only problem I had was the winter time, I hate working in the winter time. And also it takes a long time before they remove your TPT (temporary part time) to RPT or RFT. By the way, where do you work? DOWNSVIEW?

I can't believe the government have not investigated Bell !
I have heard employees bullied ,harassed given drop jobs that nobody will do so the manager if you can call them that assigns the worst drop jobs to the new employees.
From day 1 the manager will tell you how maybe one from the class will not have quit within a month !Never do the managers offer any kind of encouragement,positive feedback the whole atmosphere is negative.
You are told to climb poles wires in thunderstorms with lightening flashes never are you told to suspend your work even under life threatening conditions as the manager will still say you need to do 4 jobs a day.
One job can be so time consuming it can take a whole day they don't care they will just say you are not quick enough they don't care about the quality of the job you just have to rush through it or they hound you out asking everyday do you think this job is right for you.
One manager out in the west end has a picture that he shows with bleeding hands from his so called time on the job it is all just scare tactics these people don't know what a manager is some have one year experience and are driving good people out of jobs before the union can protect them.
The managers are all afraid of getting the sack so you are told if you don't work fast enough he will be sacked.They only care about their own skin and couldn't care less about an employee.
This has been going on for years Bell must know of the abuse of it's employees it just doesn't care about people in any shape or form.
Has to be the worst decision in your life to work for the scum that masquerade as managers don't waste your time look for a real job elsewhere!

[Johnnyx]

I can't believe the government have not investigated Bell !
I have heard employees bullied ,harassed given drop jobs that nobody will do so the manager if you can call them that assigns the worst drop jobs to the new employees.
From day 1 the manager will tell you how maybe one from the class will not have quit within a month !Never do the managers offer any kind of encouragement,positive feedback the whole atmosphere is negative.
You are told to climb poles wires in thunderstorms with lightening flashes never are you told to suspend your work even under life threatening conditions as the manager will still say you need to do 4 jobs a day.
One job can be so time consuming it can take a whole day they don't care they will just say you are not quick enough they don't care about the quality of the job you just have to rush through it or they hound you out asking everyday do you think this job is right for you.
One manager out in the west end has a picture that he shows with bleeding hands from his so called time on the job it is all just scare tactics these people don't know what a manager is some have one year experience and are driving good people out of jobs before the union can protect them.
The managers are all afraid of getting the sack so you are told if you don't work fast enough he will be sacked.They only care about their own skin and couldn't care less about an employee.
This has been going on for years Bell must know of the abuse of it's employees it just doesn't care about people in any shape or form.
Has to be the worst decision in your life to work for the scum that masquerade as managers don't waste your time look for a real job elsewhere!

Any chance your manager is Dustin Adams? lol

[AudiDude]

Why would you do 8-9 jobs a day? You're expected to do 6 jobs a day, touch 7. Just remember the more you work this year, they will expect more again next year, just keep your numbers good and as close to 100% effectiveness at year end review and you'll be fine. As a new hire you have a learning curve so they expect you to do less than techs that have been there longer. Your manager will probably waffle on about numbers to you but really those numbers are just for managers to worry about, as long as you do a good job, give good customer service, keep your reworks low then you're good to go. You get paid the same amount for doing 6 jobs a day as someone who does 9 jobs a day (assuming you're on the same pay level of course!)
And the first 3 months you're on probation so they can get rid of you for any reason, it's after the first 3 months you have union protection.

Like I said, that was without trying. A lot of people can't and never will be able to handle that amount, so they can't raise the bar because the average tech can't do it.

From 8:00-9:30/10:00 we would be at breakfast. In the industrial building the breakfast joint was in we'd go into the phone room and call DMS and activate all of the calls and call a few customers and troubleshoot over the phone because we could do it better than the CSRs. We'd easily eliminate 3 calls every morning without raising a finger. We'd roll from breakfast and knock off two by 12:30 and phone each other and see who got stuck and then we'd do another 3 by 3:30 and screw around after that. When you smoke everybody else, you get special treatment. If you lost your screwdriver, they come to me and give me the new one and give you my old one. I got first dibs on every new van that came in and everybody else can suffer with the older ones. I could screw around infinitely because when your numbers were higher, nobody cares. If another manager didn't like what I was doing and tried to stop me, my manager would tell him to mind his own business and leave me alone before I deliver sub-par performance on purpose.

The managers have to meet numbers and it is the average of the team. My numbers were so high, it made up for the laggards and the same with my two friends. We did what we wanted, when we wanted and nobody messed with us. Never needed union protection because the numbers were solid, we worked safe and we could fix issues that the average tech couldn't, wouldn't or just missed. They knew we were done at 3:30, but they also know if you call up and complain, we'll destroy your team average on purpose.

I could give you a list of all the crap we did that would normally get you fired in a heartbeat, but if anybody who worked with us ever read a few if them, that would divulge my identity.

So we pulled good numbers just by being smarter, did less work, and had better numbers. The other 70% of the crew spent the entire day "pushing rope uphill" and were always sweating to meet the numbers. We had a large incidence of guys working OT without claiming it because they were scared they would be seen as incompetent. When it came to OT, it was paid out to me with no issues, because my numbers would cover it. You can't claim OT on 5 calls a day. I could on 8-9 calls. For extended lunch, park your truck, put out your cones and have a buddy pick you up. Let the GPS tracker monitor my parked truck for a few hours. I would take calls off techs during the week for the local shopping centre and call all the businesses and book the calls for Fridays. Then on Friday, I park my truck in the underground (no GPS tracking) do all the calls in 2 hours (learned where every terminal was when nobody else took the time) and get changed and go see a movie. I'd call my friends and they would charge assist time and join me. I did once get questioned with 30 hours of assist time (on a single job) because 7 guys claimed against that call (they came in from the heat to buy ice cream), but we all pulled good numbers so we just laughed it off with my manager because he knew what we were doing.

Nobody gave us a second look. They just picked on the stragglers.

[davidb711]

Like I said, that was without trying. A lot of people can't and never will be able to handle that amount, so they can't raise the bar because the average tech can't do it.

From 8:00-9:30/10:00 we would be at breakfast. In the industrial building the breakfast joint was in we'd go into the phone room and call DMS and activate all of the calls and call a few customers and troubleshoot over the phone because we could do it better than the CSRs. We'd easily eliminate 3 calls every morning without raising a finger. We'd roll from breakfast and knock off two by 12:30 and phone each other and see who got stuck and then we'd do another 3 by 3:30 and screw around after that. When you smoke everybody else, you get special treatment. If you lost your screwdriver, they come to me and give me the new one and give you my old one. I got first dibs on every new van that came in and everybody else can suffer with the older ones. I could screw around infinitely because when your numbers were higher, nobody cares. If another manager didn't like what I was doing and tried to stop me, my manager would tell him to mind his own business and leave me alone before I deliver sub-par performance on purpose.

The managers have to meet numbers and it is the average of the team. My numbers were so high, it made up for the laggards and the same with my two friends. We did what we wanted, when we wanted and nobody messed with us. Never needed union protection because the numbers were solid, we worked safe and we could fix issues that the average tech couldn't, wouldn't or just missed. They knew we were done at 3:30, but they also know if you call up and complain, we'll destroy your team average on purpose.

I could give you a list of all the crap we did that would normally get you fired in a heartbeat, but if anybody who worked with us ever read a few if them, that would divulge my identity.

So we pulled good numbers just by being smarter, did less work, and had better numbers. The other 70% of the crew spent the entire day "pushing rope uphill" and were always sweating to meet the numbers. We had a large incidence of guys working OT without claiming it because they were scared they would be seen as incompetent. When it came to OT, it was paid out to me with no issues, because my numbers would cover it. You can't claim OT on 5 calls a day. I could on 8-9 calls. For extended lunch, park your truck, put out your cones and have a buddy pick you up. Let the GPS tracker monitor my parked truck for a few hours. I would take calls off techs during the week for the local shopping centre and call all the businesses and book the calls for Fridays. Then on Friday, I park my truck in the underground (no GPS tracking) do all the calls in 2 hours (learned where every terminal was when nobody else took the time) and get changed and go see a movie. I'd call my friends and they would charge assist time and join me. I did once get questioned with 30 hours of assist time (on a single job) because 7 guys claimed against that call (they came in from the heat to buy ice cream), but we all pulled good numbers so we just laughed it off with my manager because he knew what we were doing.

Nobody gave us a second look. They just picked on the stragglers.

That's like some of the best advice I heard.

This is my fourth week on my own and I got my numbers up a bit. The managers drive around all day and make surprise stops to see what we new guys are up to. As a team we have been trying and doing our best to help each other out. Like calling each other up and checking in on each other ... kind of starting to build a bond of trust. Like a brother hood.

You make a good point and have made my day a bit better now that i've read this.

Thanks.

[davidb711]

So, I'm starting to see a trend here. BTS gives the customers of Bell Canada, the " ILLUSION" --- misapprehension That "WE" ... 'BTS' are really employed by Bell Canada.

But, in fact, Bell Canada owns BTS employees. So, when a BTS employee makes a mistake and a customer complains, Bell gets BTS to fire, suspended, weed out , or whatever the BTS worker. (the new guys)

Then, Bell Canada, tells it customers they have "DISCIPLINED" that ' monkey ' ... sorry, I mean employee from BTS. ...

From there BTS managers will tell that employee that they have made a mistake that is going to disrupt there position as a worker for BTS 'you'. And, they will do whatever to get rid of you because you have made there 'NUMBERS' bad. ...

OK ... So, where am I going here. ???

I've seen to much ***** in 8 weeks here at BTS, that I get it ... IF YOU CAN"T WORK WITH THE BIG BOYS, DON'T SHOW UP!!! Because you will get *****ed in the ***** like a little prison ***** from Protective Custody.


Don't let Bell Canada intimate BTS ... ***** Bell, before they ***** YOU!!!

[AudiDude]

BTS (ETS) was started in April 1996. Bell Canada was in the first stages of being deregulated when it lost long distance and competitors came in during the 1980's. Then local competition was going to be inevitable so Bell took the opportunity to make sure the deregulation involved the removal of the responsibility for them to take care of the inside wiring. Now with inside wiring responsibility released to the customer, they announced that they were going to lay off techs because they would no longer need them because they were getting out of the inside wire business.

Don't fret. Our union has a plan. We will secure money from Fonds De Solidarite in Quebec (where Bell is headquartered of course) and make a new company called Newco to employ the union members that will be let go. No wait, let's call it Entourage Technology Solutions. The company will take the techs doing inside/outside work for $25.50/hr and use them for inside work only at $17 per hour. The union has saved the day (or did they get in bed with Bell to figure out a way to administer pay cuts). Bell tells the their techs they are only worth $21 per hour anyway and they will lose their jobs, so many take the ETS job.

Life is good, no more climbing, no outside work. Less money but at least almost no outside work. Eight to twelve jobs a day vs Bell at five. Customers complain that they are paying to have their house wired and the techs are leaving them with no dialtone and a bill. Lets fix that. Tell the ETS techs to install the protector (no NID yet) so that the Bell tech can show up after he leaves and install dialtone when the customer isn't home. There is a ruckus and it is said "if we install the protector, they'll ask us to climb and then were doing the same job for $17/hr". It does happen. ETS employees ask for the $21/hr Bell said they were worth instead of the $17 they are making and the $25 they were making at Bell. Nobody listens.

ETS is said to be a separate company willing to contract out to anybody and they have their own installations number and can undercut Bell, but they cannot advertise, so they paint the vans yellow and put their phone number on the side. The CRTC gives Bell/ETS $hit for operating out of Bell work centres and ETS moves out to random units all over.

All the trucks still come from BML leasing, just like Bells.All the Norstar phone system equipment sits in ETS lockers ready for install without ETS having to pay for it. It is obvious that Bell owns ETS. Monthly meetings consists of Bell telling ETS they failed here and there and state that the division owes Bell "X" amount of dollars. It is up to ETS to prove Bell wrong and not pay out the money from their budget. Many pissing matches ensue. Some techs physically fight each other. ETS carries on with its plan and opens Syst-M for cabling needs.

At this time ETS is treated like a second class citizen from Bell, for $17/hour while the Bell techs advanced to $26+ per hour. ETS does everything from the JWI/OPI to the premises, including PBX install, large job cabling etc. Union goes to negotiate after four years and comes back with a $.20 raise, static for the next four years. Thats right, the ETS guys worked for four years at $17 per hour max pay and were expected to work for the next four years at $17.20 max with no pay increase.

Eventually ETS goes on strike over pay indexing saying their Bell counterparts (if you can call them that, they'd just go to the house and say the problem was inside and walk) are pulling away from them and they understand they'll never make the same money but if Bell gets and increase they should get the same. Bell lets ETS sit there and rot.

Rogers offers home phone and is taking customers away left and right during the strike. Rumour says they might buy ETS (I doubt it). Then BTS is borne.
There are a lot more details of backstabbing and connivery I am leaving out, but I am just giving you the basics. It's been said before that every provider secretly meets and laughs at all of us. I see people move from company to company, sit on others boards of directors, consult and keep reinventing themselves. The whole thing is a big game, don't take it personal.

Your job is to learn the game and duck the sword when it is cuts time. Advance when it is time to advance and retreat when it is time to retreat. You keep friends at all companies and if your job should come to an end they will try to help you and vice-versa. Be loyal to no managment, they will all sell you out to save their jobs or get promoted. During and economic downturn never accept a job called a special project. Those are code words for giving you a unique job and then close it due to "budget" and then you are gone. Your manager isn't in a union and he is not important as far as the company is concerned, so if you can't make the numbers, he will clip you because his job is on the line and he can be terminated easily. He doesn't work in the "ivory tower" and even though he dreams about it he most likely never will. He makes a bit more than top wage and everything is his fault. Your screw-ups are his fault. He gets blamed, that's why they drive around and check on you because they are scared you'll do a crap job and they'll get clipped. If they were smart and you were getting stuck, they'd roll up their sleeves and help. If they know what they are doing...

Once the 20 cent pay raise was announced most of the senior guys quit and took their experience with them. Some stayed back as managers. The job ain't what it used to be, but it is a good foundation. Work there until you can do the job with ease. Take night/weekend courses and get certified in something. Look for job while employed. So long as you have a plan, you are waaaaay ahead of everybody else.

[Johnnyx]

So, I'm starting to see a trend here. BTS gives the customers of Bell Canada, the " ILLUSION" --- misapprehension That "WE" ... 'BTS' are really employed by Bell Canada.

But, in fact, Bell Canada owns BTS employees. So, when a BTS employee makes a mistake and a customer complains, Bell gets BTS to fire, suspended, weed out , or whatever the BTS worker. (the new guys)

Then, Bell Canada, tells it customers they have "DISCIPLINED" that ' monkey ' ... sorry, I mean employee from BTS. ...

From there BTS managers will tell that employee that they have made a mistake that is going to disrupt there position as a worker for BTS 'you'. And, they will do whatever to get rid of you because you have made there 'NUMBERS' bad. ...

OK ... So, where am I going here. ???

I've seen to much ***** in 8 weeks here at BTS, that I get it ... IF YOU CAN"T WORK WITH THE BIG BOYS, DON'T SHOW UP!!! Because you will get *****ed in the ***** like a little prison ***** from Protective Custody.


Don't let Bell Canada intimate BTS ... ***** Bell, before they ***** YOU!!!

So did u quit?

[davidb711]

So did u quit?

Hell no! It's to exciting and fun!

[davidb711]

So did u quit?

Why would I quit a job that pays you to 'ACT' like you are a real BELL CANADA 'TECH'? ...

Easy money. Show up. Drive a Van. Talk to a customer. ... Easy money ... lol!

[Johnnyx]

Why would I quit a job that pays you to 'ACT' like you are a real BELL CANADA 'TECH'? ...

Easy money. Show up. Drive a Van. Talk to a customer. ... Easy money ... lol!

$14.20 is BS money & with the amount of times they're going to sit you, you'll be lucky to be making 15 by this time next year.

[davidb711]

$14.20 is BS money & with the amount of times they're going to sit you, you'll be lucky to be making 15 by this time next year.

You are right! That is why I quit today ...

[Johnnyx]

You are right! That is why I quit today ...

yep, everyone quits

[Superdupertech]

Too bad.. Anything worthwhile takes time to achive. In 5 years you will ask yourself why didn't I stay? No risk no reward . Whatever is out there is just contract bs...
This job should be taken as any other apprentice job.. Takes years to get there...got to put your time in

[Johnnyx]

Nah, you can't compare it to a real apprenticeship.

[Superdupertech]

This is close to an apprentice as you will get with the lack of education... Everything else out there is bs... You know better.. You have to do the time to fit the job ... There is no easy way into a union but doing your time no matter how tough it is.