07 April 2005

Newsworld International shutdown
hits 50-60 Guild members
Contract allows workers to find alternate employment
at public broadcaster

Canadian Media Guild | TNG Canada Local 30213

CBC managers met today with employees of Newsworld International to tell them that the service would cease, along with their jobs, on July 31. The Canadian Media Guild estimates that between 50 and 60 members are affected.

The shutdown was announced after Al Gore and other buyers of the service said they would not renew NWI's service contract. Gore, a former U.S. vice president, leads a group that bought the 24-hour global news and information channel last year from Vivendi Universal. Although the CBC sold the channel in 2000, it continued to provide Canadian journalism to millions of homes in the United States.

Guild officials later met with managers to discuss what process should be used to deal with the people affected by the closure. The Guild will make every effort to see that members get meaningful assignments when their current jobs come to an end, with the least disruption to everyone.

In the event of downsizing, a key role for the Guild is to make sure that the CBC follows a fair and transparent process and that neither favouritism nor discrimination enter the picture.

The collective agreements state that permanent employees aren’t necessarily out the door if their current job is cut. In fact, in most downsizing situations, many Guild members are able to stay with the CBC if they wish. This is a very important principle that the Guild is fighting to keep in the current round of bargaining.

The union is supposed to receive at least eight weeks notice before jobs are “made redundant” so it can work with the CBC to find alternate employment for affected employees. The employee is supposed to get no less than four weeks notice their job is being made redundant.

If there are no appropriate vacancies, the employee can either displace another with less seniority who do jobs in the same or a lower classification, or accept a layoff with severance pay and the right to come back if an appropriate vacancy becomes open.

(This is an edited version of the story that first appeared on the Canadian Media Guild web site.)