20 October 2003

Osprey threatens 95 years of peace
with union at Kingston newspaper

Kingston Typographical Union | TNG Canada Local 30204

The new corporate master of a 154-year-old Ontario daily that has had peaceful relations with its union for almost a century appears determined to force employees onto picket lines this week.

Negotiations to renew six bargaining unit contracts between the venerable Kingston Whig-Standard and the Kingston Typographical Union reached an impasse last week. The parties will be in a legal strike/lock-out position at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

Osprey Media Group, which has a print monopoly in the city because it also owns Kingston This Week, "has said from the very beginning that there are going to be changes to these contracts and, if it means taking a strike, then so be it," says lead negotiator David Wilson, a TNG Canada Staff Rep.

The collective agreements, which cover 130 full- and part-time workers in editorial, advertising, business office, mailroom and reader sales, expired on Jan. 18. Bargaining got under way shortly thereafter with the company tabling unbelievable demands for concessions.

"We've never seen anything like it. There were well over 100 demands for changes to the contracts. The company is trying to rewrite most of the contract language," says Wilson. "Some of the concessions are astounding. They include: using non-union labour in cases of emergency, removing reporters' rights to withhold bylines, excluding commissioned sales reps from vacation pay, and reducing sick-leave pay from two-thirds to none at all. And the list goes on."

Debbie Newton, president of the Local, says: "This round of bargaining reminds me of a really messy divorce. The only one smiling is the lawyer."

The union is seeking pay increases and better benefits for its members whose salary scales vary from contract to contract, but range from $10 an hour for part-timers to $800 a week in the newsroom.

A vote on the company's final offer is expected to take place this Sunday, Oct. 26, three days after the strike/lockout deadline.

"I suppose they could lock us out on Thursday if they feel the deal will be rejected," says Wilson. "The ball is in the company's court."

But Osprey — formed in July 2001 when several of Conrad Black's Hollinger group newspapers were sold to former executive Michael Sifton in financial partnership with the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Bank of Nova Scotia — made it clear from the outset that it disdained its unionized employees.

Its idea of labour relations was to lock out its workers at the Sudbury Star in October 2002. One week later, it precipitated a strike at its Cobourg and Port Hope newspapers (Northumberland Publishers). Osprey brought in scab labour from its other papers to continue publishing and keep the disputes alive. Both took four months to resolve.

In January, Osprey added to its position as the biggest owner of small dailies in Canada by buying four daily newspapers, 21 weeklies and other small publications from CanWest Global Communications. Many of the titles were formerly owned by Hollinger.

Now Osprey has turned its guns on the Whig-Standard, one of the flagship papers in its stable of 22 Ontario dailies. (The newspaper, established in 1924 when the British Whig and Kingston Standard merged, has daily roots that go back to 1849. It remained an independent, family-run newspaper until being purchased by Southam Inc., which was taken over by Conrad Black in the mid-1990s.)

The union, which has represented workers at the newspaper since 1908, made it clear that it isn't going to meekly submit to the new corporate lash. On Sept. 14, a vote by union members produced a 95-per-cent strike mandate.

"We hoped this would send a strong message to the company that it needed to reduce the number of demands and also that we would not agree to the outrageous concessions," says Wilson.

By the time the two sides resumed talks with the help of a provincially appointed conciliator/mediator, the company had barely budged. There were still more than 60 demands, including all the "hot-button" issues.

Last week, following three days of mediation, the company had pared down its proposals, but not as much as would be considered reasonable, says Wilson.