Government contract with xwave protects jobs in Newfoundland and Labrador

Joan Marie Aylward, Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board, and Judy Foote, Minister of Industry, Trade and Rural Development, today responded to actions taken by xwave to restructure its operations. Government�s Industrial Benefit�s Agreement (IBA) with xwave has ensured that there will be no net impact on the number of xwave employees in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"xwave has advised government that it remains fully committed to its obligations under the IBA and to growing its level of employment in Newfoundland and Labrador from the current level of 554 positions," said Minister Foote. "Without the protection of the IBA, this province would have likely seen a substantial reduction in the number of jobs and business functions in Newfoundland and Labrador."

xwave will take actions today to restructure its operations to achieve a 10 per cent workforce reduction on a corporate wide basis. The proposed restructuring will have no net impact on the number of xwave employees in Newfoundland and Labrador. However, there will be some refocusing of activities in this province and the redeployment of some employees.

"As part of the restructuring, xwave officials have committed to enhance the Newfoundland and Labrador network monitoring and distributed computing capabilities; strengthen the corporate services capabilities in the province; and establish a local team to focus on Near Shore business opportunities," said Minister Aylward. "xwave has also reaffirmed the company�s commitment to meeting all of its obligations under the Industrial Benefits Agreement (IBA) and the remediation plan negotiated on March 3, 2003."

Government renewed its initial 1994 seven-year contract with xwave in July 2001 for an additional term that will now expire on March 31, 2007. A comprehensive Industrial Benefits Agreement was negotiated as part of the contract extension. Government and xwave agreed on a remediation plan earlier this year to address the short-term employment and subcontracting shortfalls in the IBA.

Media contact:

Tansy Mundon, Industry, Trade and Rural Development, (709) 729-4570
Glenn Bruce, Treasury Board, (709) 729-6793

2003 07 24                                 11:30 a.m.