Yellow Pages Ltd. says a year-long effort to restructure and modernize its relationship with unionized sales representatives across Canada has concluded with the ratification of a new collective agreement by employees in Toronto.
The Montreal-based publisher of digital and paper-based advertising says it now has the flexibility to reward its best sales representatives and make adjustments in response to the shifting needs of a competitive marketplace.
Chief executive David Eckert says Yellow Pages has now laid the groundwork necessary for achieving “real improvement in our revenue trends.”
Yellow Pages says with the Toronto deal ratified, the new agreements cover all but a dozen of its hundreds of unionized sales representatives.
The company, which has faced financial difficulties, locked out about 130 sales representative in Quebec in mid-September after the two sides failed to reach a labour agreement.
Yellow Pages earned a $27.1-million profit for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, due to cost-cutting including workforce reductions, asset sales and a $18.3-million reversal in income tax provisions. Revenue for the three months was down 26 per cent to $130.1 million.