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12 August 2005
Strike/lockout looms at CBC
Guild won't bow to demands
for temporary workforce
Canadian
Media Guild | TNG Canada
Local 30213
The possibility of a strike or lockout
on Monday has turned contract talks at the CBC into a dramatic
reality show that bests anything offered on the public broadcaster's
television and radio networks.
On one side is management with its desire
for a contracted, temporary workforce. On the other side
is the Canadian Media Guild (CMG), determined to preserve
permanent jobs, careers and associated benefits, not to mention
a stable of employees who are dedicated to the corporation's
objectives.
Lise Lareau, president of the CMG,
which represents all CBC employees outside of Quebec and
Moncton, says the two sides went into bargaining 16 months
ago with about 70 major issues on the table. Normally,
there would be five or six. "We're
fighting over all of them," she says.
The CBC argues that it needs to be
able to convert much of its workforce to temporary employees
so that it has more flexibility in an extremely competitive
environment. Lareau counters that "there isn't the
commitment to programming if everyone is transitional."
Jane Chalmers, vice-president of
CBC Radio, told an interviewer with CBO Ottawa's All
In A Day Thursday that, due to budget cuts, the corporation "has
less and less money to spend and we want to be able to
spend more at some times of the year and less at others."
Chalmers says the CBC wants to "bring in people with
new ideas" and to "make the best use of resources
we can. We need more flexibility."
The Guild's position is that the
existing contract gives the CBC plenty of flexibility when
it comes to staffing. Says Lareau: "It seems everything
is designed to destructure the CBC."
On Wednesday, the CMG noted that
the CBC's bargaining committee had announced it would accept
no compromise. "Management
refuses to move from its position to permit entire classifications
of employees to be hired on short-term contracts. And it
now refuses to bargain until the Guild agrees to that position — something
the Guild has said repeatedly it will never do. The future
of careers, pension plans, benefits and decent working conditions
is at stake, as is journalistic and creative independence."
The CMG noted that it had presented the
corporation with a detailed
proposal that would provide it
with significantly increased operational flexibility.
The CBC "says that's not good enough. It demands total
capitulation," says the Guild. It quotes the corporation's
lead bargainer as saying: 'This is very much the hill we
will die on. ... We realize where this may lead us, and we're
prepared to deal with the consequences.'
The Guild has filed a bad-faith bargaining complaint with
the Canada Industrial Relations Board over the CBC's tabling
of a 200-page document just days before deadline. It contains
new language, revises proposals and reneges on agreed-to
language, without identifying or explaining any of the changes.
Lareau says the Guild remains committed to staying at the
table to negotiate a fair agreement.
In a letter Thursday to members, CBC Branch President Arnold
Amber and a member of the negotiating team (also Director
of TNG Canada/CWA), explained why the CMG was running advertisements
about the contract talks that day in daily newspapers across
Canada:
"The CBC is a Crown Corporation
with a special, strong relationship to Canadians and our
national identity. It is funded by the Canadian people
through Parliament. In times like this, we must always
remember that we are here to serve the public.
"Accordingly, this is the moment
for the Guild to tell its story to the Canadian people
in a dramatic fashion and call upon them to contact their
MPs and express support for our position. In this period
of minority government, the views of all MPs may be crucial
to getting a resolution of our issues.
"As well, with the scheduled
deadline of negotiations looming, it is important for you
to know that we will use all possible strategies and tactics
to run a forceful and imaginative campaign if we soon face
a lockout or a strike. These ads are just a start of what
will become a series of actions on our behalf."
With a July strike vote that yielded 87-per-cent support
for the bargaining team, Amber notes that the Guild has ample
resources to fight for its rights and security.
"Funding for the newspaper ads and other initiatives
to come is provided by our parent union, the Communications
Workers of America." The Defence Fund, with assets of
US$11.5 million, pays for things like picket signs, strike
headquarters in every location, etc. "The Member Relief
Fund will supply the money for each member doing strike duty,
if we reach that point. This fund now has more than $315
million U.S. ready to go. To sum up: these funds work like
an insurance policy — every month, the Canadian Media
Guild has made its appropriate payments. Now, when we need
it, we get the funds to do what we have to do. In addition,
further support and funding, if necessary, will come from
The Newspaper Guild (TNG) and TNG Canada, two other levels
within our overall union structure."
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