The president of the union involved in last year's four-month strike at Telus has been ousted, following complaints by his own members.

The discontent with Telecommunications Workers Union president Bruce Bell surfaced late last year after the TWU reached a contract agreement that saw the picket lines come down.

Bruce Bell led the Telecommunications Workers Union through last year's labour dispute at Telus.
(CBC file)

Many Telus workers have been unhappy with that deal, calling it a sellout because it didn't deal effectively with their concerns about contracting out.

They had called on the bargaining committee to hold out for better terms.

A notice posted on the union website says "numerous TWU delegates"  laid charges against Bell a few weeks ago.

That led to the establishment of a trial board that held a hearing to deal with the charges. The decision was made to remove Bell from office.

The union says he can appeal his firing to the Canadian Labour Congress.

Union ratification took 2 tries

The union signed a five-year contract with Telus following a ratification vote last November, covering more than 13,000 workers in B.C. and Alberta.

The deal received 64 per cent support.

An earlier proposed settlement reached just weeks earlier had been defeated by just 53 votes.

Telus is the second-largest telecommunications company in the country, behind Bell Canada.

With files from the Canadian Press