| 27 June 2006 CBC failed to properly distribute
                    pension plan surplus, arbitrator rules
 Canadian
                      Media Guild | TNG Canada
                      Local 30213  The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation violated collective
                    agreements when it distributed only a portion of a
                    pension plan surplus earmarked for employees and retirees,
                    an arbitrator has found.  In a 131-page ruling, arbitrator Denis Nadeau states
                    that the CBC erred by not following the recommendation
                    of the Consultative Committee on Staff Benefits (CCSB),
                    which had made a proposal to distribute the money equitably.
                    The CCSB had determined that $336 million of the $1.1-billion
                    pension plan surplus should be available to employees
                    and retirees. The CBC distributed only $134 million. All of the CBC’s unions filed grievances in
                    the fall of 2000; they agreed that whichever of them
                    was able to have the case heard quickly by a well-respected
                    arbitrator would “carry the ball.” It was
                    the Syndicat canadien de la function publique that
                    took the lead, with Montreal lawyer Pierre Grenier
                    as counsel. The Canadian Media Guild, which represents
                    5,500 employees at the CBC, was an interested party
                    in the case. The Guild’s senior staff representative,
                    Dan Oldfield, was a key witness.  The collective agreements oblige the CBC to implement
                    any CCSB recommendation that doesn't endanger the pension
                    plan or cause the corporation additional expense, says
                    Keith Maskell, a CMG staff representative who has been
                    involved in the case from the beginning. While the CBC was found to have acted unilaterally,
                    it doesn't necessarily mean the corporation will have
                    to pay out $202 million to 16,000 current and former
                    (retired) employees. Hearings over the next few months
                    will determine what sort of financial and/or other
                    remedy will come from the ruling. The most important element
                      of the arbitrator's ruling was to "remind the corporation that the CCSB exists
                    for a reason, that the corporation has to follow the
                    collective agreement, and that CBC management does
                    not have the right to make unilateral decisions about
                    any surplus in our pension plan," says Maskell. |