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23 December 2005
Commentary
2005: A year to remember for the CMG
Canadian
Media Guild | TNG Canada
Local 30213
By Lise Lareau
National President
Looking back at this year is quite an
exercise. It’s rare that you see so many challenges
and accomplishments in a 12-month period, in the Guild or
any other union.
Taken together they add up this way: two new collective
agreements negotiated (Reuters, CBC), a wage re-opener and
contract extension at CP/BN that restored regular pay hikes,
and a lucrative wage re-opener at APTN.
Add to that two new branches organized
and certified at SunTV (formerly Toronto 1) and Alliance
Atlantis Communications, following up on the addition of
VisionTV to the CMG family late last year.
This alone would have been heady stuff for most union locals.
But at CMG, all this happened before, during and after the
event that put this union into the national spotlight for
a two-month period: the lockout at the CBC.
Reflecting on the lockout this past
week for reporters doing year-enders, I was struck by the
enormity of the collision – a
collision that, like most, was entirely avoidable. Think
about it: By the mid-point of the year, the CBC was suffering.
It had lost the Olympics for 2010 and 2012. It had lost the
contract to produce Newsworld International, which faded
to black over the summer. Yet, for some reason, CBC management
turned on its employees and decided this was the time to
try to extract enormous concessions. By equating creativity
and renewal with new non-permanent employees, it antagonized
its own workforce. Then it locked the doors at 12:01 am on
Aug. 15. Bang.
Like many people facing blunt force, Guild members reacted
first with shock and disbelief. But something else emerged
quickly: a collective spirit. One action inspired another,
and soon Guild members were everywhere, on buses, online,
on podcasts, at MPs' doorsteps, and touring the nation.
Picketing took on a new meaning. Our message was about
reclaiming the CBC as it should be. It was also about the
importance of secure employment. We spoke anywhere there
was an interest in the CBC, from small, remote communities
to the nation’s capital.
CBC members got enormous support
along the way from their colleagues in other CMG branches,
from other Guild Locals, from the Communications Workers
of America, from other unions – big
and small. We learned what it’s like to belong to the
community of labour.
It all worked. We tapped into public support for a strong
CBC and for the principle of permanent jobs. We held back
the concessions. CBC members now have a single new contract
that replaces three separate ones (an achievement in itself),
and overall, there are remarkably few changes to the status
quo and some notable improvements. But all this was so very,
very possible without a damaging lockout.
We are clearly still recovering. Like many traumatic experiences,
it now seems like a dream and full recovery is difficult
because of the “no fault” culture at the management
level of the CBC. Nearly three months later, no one has
been held accountable for this senseless clash.
But it is time to recover. We need to help define a new
and positive working culture at the CBC and our other workplaces.
We must fully integrate the new branches we have organized
into CMG and ensure that our new members have the tools
they need to work co-operatively with employers to achieve
their mutual objectives. Our leaders at the CP/BN branch
have shown that it is possible to work out solutions, even
when the employer is facing a significant financial problem,
and negotiate a deal that benefits everyone.
We need to keep fighting for careers
and permanent jobs – at
CBC, at TVOntario and throughout our industry. We need to
push back against increased workload at APTN and elsewhere.
We need to be there for people as new issues arise.
We now know our strength, but we must use it wisely and
strategically. Labour-management relations need not be about
conflict. But there needs to be a respectful relationship
between the two for it to work.
At the same time, we need to live up to the greater expectations
placed on the CMG: by members who expect to see their concerns
reflected in their union going forward, and by those outside
the Guild who will expect us to give back when others in
the labour movement face their time of crisis.
(This article first appeared on the Canadian
Media Guild web site.)
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