12 October 2005

Osprey gutting daily newspaper's
classified advertising department

St. Catherines Typographical Union | TNG Canada Local 30416

Osprey Media is laying off two-thirds of its classified advertising employees at The St. Catharines Standard and moving the jobs to a call centre in Sarnia.

"This came as a complete shock to the union and to all employees," Brenda Halden, president of the St. Catharines Typographical Union, says in a news release.

The layoff notices, effective Nov. 1, went out to eight of the 13 people working in the classified department. The affected employees' years of service range from 13 to 31.

Despite the fact the collective agreement contains a No Contracting Out clause, the company informed the union that this was not a negotiable issue and the members do not have the option of following the work to Sarnia. Halden says the members were told that, if they do not work until Oct. 31, they would not receive a severance package.

"They know that this is a blatant violation of our contract; one that will echo across the Niagara Peninsula," says Halden. The Local has filed a grievance with the newspaper and plans to take the matter to arbitration.

The Local is also putting public pressure on the newspaper's publisher, Paul McCuaig, who is chair of this year's United Way campaign. The St. Catharines District Labour Council has passed the Local's news release on to other unions affiliated with the United Way. A local radio station has been covering the story.

Halden says the Standard notified the union that they were now, and have been for some time, working to centralize all of the Osprey Media newspapers to one call centre in Sarnia.

"The classified ads are not going to be done in our community, but by out-of-town people, who do not work in, support or contribute in any way to our community. We will fight for the contracted right to keep our work in our community," Halden says in the news release.  

"It is so very sad to see our company that was once a proud part of this city and its history, now hold this city in such disregard."

The St. Catharines Standard, founded by the Burgoyne family in 1891, was locally owned until 1996, when it was purchased by Conrad Black's Hollinger Inc. In July 2000, it was sold to CanWest Global Communications Corporation.

Osprey Media Group purchased four daily newspapers — the Standard, Brantford Expositor, Niagara Falls Review and The Welland Tribune — and about 30 community newspapers from CanWest in January 2003. At the time, Michael Sifton, president and CEO of Osprey, described the papers as having "high reader penetration, broad community reach and strong connection to their communities, similar to our existing newspapers."

Osprey Media's corporate web site describes the St. Catharines-Niagara region as "a very important target for advertisers." It's the 12th largest market in Canada and the sixth largest in Ontario, while the city itself is the largest and most influential within the Niagara Regional Municipality, according to the company.