Almost two dozen members of CWA Canada
took part in a leadership course that had several sessions
devoted to turmoil in the media industry.
20 January 2010
Union leaders get timely training
on dealing
with media industry crisis
The crisis and ensuing changes in Canadian
news media were the focus of a three-day leadership course
that attracted 23 participants from 13 Locals to Toronto
for the weekend.
The course started exactly one week after Canwest, CWA Canada’s
largest newspaper owner, filed for protection from its creditors
in face of billions of dollars of debt. The training started
off looking at the financial problems in the media, the domination
of chain ownership from coast to coast and how unions have
to deal with that reality.
There was discussion of what qualities make a good leader
and the “meat and potatoes” of how executive
committees should guide their Locals. Other topics included
communications and mobilization. A special segment on “Talking
Equity” was presented by Terri Montune, the Canadian
Media Guild’s new staff representative who deals with
diversity issues.
Patricia D’Heureux and Sean FitzPatrick, two of the
union's lawyers, joined the session on dealing with grievances
and arbitrations, which was led by CWA Canada staff representative
David Esposti.
The leadership school ended with a final session on considering
strategies and key union principles in dealing with an industry
that is undergoing extreme stress and transition.
In addition to Esposti, the two other instructors were CWA
Canada Director Arnold Amber and staff representative David
Wilson.
The course was held at the Toronto offices of OPSEU, Ontario’s
largest public service union.