Bell Canada offering retirement incentive to 1,500 workers

Bell Canada said Tuesday it will try to entice 1,500 unionized employees who are close to retirement to take buyout packages.

Bell said the company is offering the incentive only to company employees who meet certain criteria and who are eligible to retire in 2009 and 2010.

"This initiative supports Bell's strategic imperative to achieve a competitive cost structure," George Cope, the president and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada, said in a release.

"It also thanks many of Bell's longest-serving team members for their service by allowing them to take a financially secure retirement even earlier than they may have planned," he said.

The employees being offered the retirement packages are members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union