28 March 2006

Bargaining unit elects first executive;
pursues unfair labour practice complaint

Canadian Media Guild | TNG Canada Local 30213

The fledgling bargaining unit at Alliance Atlantis Communications has elected its first executive, whose priorities include pursuing a complaint of unfair labour practice against the company.

The Canadian Media Guild alleges that the Toronto-based specialty broadcaster and motion picture distributor is punishing employees for choosing a union to represent their interests.

In a certification vote held by the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) in December 2005, employees in the Operations department of Alliance Atlantis chose to join the Guild. The technical workers are responsible for programming some of the most-watched specialty channels in Canada, including BBC Canada, ShowCase and HGTV.

AAC announced earlier this month that employees would be receiving annual salary increases and bonuses. The increase, however, was denied to employees in the Guild's bargaining unit.

Management's explanation was that offering the increases could prejudice upcoming negotiations to reach a first collective agreement. Even though the Guild made it clear it had no objection to the increases, AAC continues to refuse to grant the salary increases to the bargaining unit's 98 members.

The CMG will be pressing the CIRB to call a hearing as quickly as possible so that the matter can be resolved.

In a communiqué posted on the CMG web site, the Guild says it regrets that "we have had to adopt this adversarial approach, but members' salaries are at stake. We also need to make it clear to AAC management that this kind of action by an employer cannot go unchallenged. We have indicated to AAC that we are open to the possibility of discussing potential solutions in order to avoid a hearing."

The election of a new executive took place last week, with mail-in ballots being tallied yesterday. C. Masaaba Mwambu is president of the bargaining unit and Brent Tennant is vice-president, Master Control / Presentation / Quality Control / Dub Centre / Library.

Other members of the executive who had already been declared elected include: Rob VanSickle, VP at large; Chris Wenman, VP Post / Closed Captioning; and Ilya Doronin, VP Engineering.

The Guild will have to re-run the election for secretary-treasurer after Patricia Teves withdrew during the voting period.

(This story is a compilation of several that appeared on the Canadian Media Guild web site.)