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22 July 2005
Talks at CBC entering mediation,
cooling-off
period
Canadian
Media Guild | TNG Canada
Local 30213
Contract talks at the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation enter a new phase on Monday, when both mediation
and a 21-day cooling-off period begin.
Canadian Media Guild negotiators report that, despite having
an 87.3-per-cent strike
mandate, no progress was made in
talks this week on the critical issue of employment status.
The Minister of Labour has appointed a second officer, Arnie
Powers, to assist the two sides to get a deal. Powers has
considerable experience as a conciliator and mediator in
several previous rounds of negotiations with the corporation.
He is familiar with the issues and with the work performed
by Guild members.
The other officer, Jennifer Webster, has been steering the
two sides through conciliation that began seven weeks ago
and ends Sunday.
The Guild sees employment status and job evaluation as two
of the most challenging issues in negotiating a single collective
agreement for 5,500 members who were formerly in three separate
bargaining units.
The CBC wants to be able to hire, without limitation, most
new employees on a casual basis. The Guild argues that the
corporation already has significant flexibility in the way
it can hire staff and refuses to accept any proposal that
would make it easier for the CBC to get rid of its on-air,
production, technical and administrative employees.
As for job evaluation, the CMG negotiating team reports
that a number of problems were identified and corrected this
week. There was also an exchange of proposals on work week,
days off and shifts.
The cooling-off period ends at midnight Aug. 14, when either
party can, with 72 hours notice, call a strike or lockout.
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