Newly elected executive faces
deteriorating
labour relations at Irving daily
Moncton Typographical Union | TNG Canada
Local 30636
With one new member on board, the
freshly minted executive of the Guild Local at the
Moncton Times & Transcript is facing plenty of
challenges in 2007.
The New Brunswick daily, owned by
the powerful Irving family, continues to downsize amid
steadily worsening labour relations.
Back as president of the Moncton Typographical Union
is Dwayne Tingley, who was first elected to the position
a year ago. Also re-elected were Heather Fiske, vice-president,
Greg Agnew, treasurer, and Alan Cochrane, secretary.
Nina Chiarelli, a news reporter, was elected to the
other vice-president position, replacing Craig Babstock,
who decided to step down.
Well into the second year of a five-year collective
agreement, the company is living up to its anti-union
reputation:
The Local, with 32 members in the editorial
department and pressroom, has lost two members
in the newsroom in recent months and they have not
been replaced.
The firing of a graphic artist was grieved
by the union as a wrongful dismissal; the case
has now proceeded to arbitration with no indication
from the company that it is willing to make a serious
attempt to resolve the matter.
In the pressroom, the union
has been fighting to get the workers their vacation
time owed from last year.