ACCESS AND UNIONS WORKING FOR REPRESENTATIVE WORKFORCE

Released on March 22, 2004

Access Communications Co-operative Limited and two affiliated unions partnered with the province today through its Aboriginal Employment Development Program.

This partnership will help prepare another workplace for Aboriginal employees, and enable Aboriginal people to access a broader range of employment opportunities with Access Communications.

"Partnering with a communications co-operative and two unions is a fantastic opportunity to increase Aboriginal employment in the communications sector," Aboriginal Affairs Minister Maynard Sonntag said. "Aboriginal Employment Development Program partnerships – such as this one – help to build and strengthen relationships between employees, workplaces and communities."

"By participating in this agreement, Access Communications hopes to take steps to build a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and to formalize our co-operative's commitment to diversity," President and CEO of Access Communications Jim Deane said.

"Aboriginal people are part of our community," President of Access Communications Employees' Association Jack Pollock said. "The employees association is pleased to work with Access management to look at ways to keep building our workplace to include Aboriginal people as colleagues."

"This partnership allows the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union to work in co-operation with the other parties and to encourage greater participation of the Aboriginal community in our workplace, while reflecting the broader goals we aspire to as a socially responsible trade union," Staff Representative of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada Doug Anderson said.

Access is a 100 per cent Saskatchewan-owned non-profit co-operative with a mandate to reinvest 100 per cent of its profits back into the communities in its service areas. The telecommunications company employs 175 people and another 200 volunteers serving 30 communities.

There are 135 members in the Access Communications Employees' Association and four members in the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

This will be the 53rd partnership agreement for the Aboriginal Employment Development Program. Through the program, over 1,700 Aboriginal people have been hired and more than 4,000 employees have received cultural awareness education.

The Aboriginal Employment Development Program strives to build a representative workforce in Saskatchewan where Aboriginal people compete for jobs on a level playing field based on their skills and qualifications, and are represented at all occupational levels in proportion to their population numbers in the province.

-30-

For More Information, Contact:

Anna Arneson Government Relations and Aboriginal Affairs Regina Phone: (306) 787-8008