Locals to rally in support of bargaining
teams in tough negotiations
Montreal Newspaper Guild | CWA Canada
Local 30111 Ottawa Newspaper Guild | CWA Canada
Local 30205
Guild members in Ottawa and Montreal
are expected to turn out for simultaneous lunchtime
gatherings on Monday to demonstrate support for their
bargaining teams.
Arnold Amber, Director of CWA Canada,
says the Locals are locked in difficult negotiations
to renew collective agreements at The
Gazette and The
Ottawa Citizen.
Amber says jurisdiction is the big issue in Montreal;
in Ottawa, it's wages. Job security is another priority
for members at the daily newspapers owned by CanWest
Global Corporation, which has been laying off unionized
employees and shipping their work to non-union company
operations.
"Quite a few of our members are really gung-ho
going into mediation (on Sept. 8 and 9)," says
Lois Kirkup, president of the Ottawa Newspaper Guild
(ONG).
Black T-shirts will be handed
out to members of both Locals, along with buttons
declaring "More For
Less? No!"
The more-for-less scenario has been a plague on the
Ottawa Local, particularly in the newsroom, which has
been emaciated by buyouts and attrition, says Kirkup.
In Montreal, where union ranks have been reduced by
layoffs and outsourcing of work, members are expected
to wear the T-shirts to work and show up for the lunchtime
event, says Mona Leroux, president of the Montreal
Newspaper Guild (MNG).
The MNG is determined to retain a jurisdiction clause
in the three contracts up for renewal after the newspaper
laid off 45 circulation department employees in June
and exported their work to a company call centre in
Winnipeg.
Three bargaining units — editorial, circulation
and advertising — were in an "open" period
as of July 23, meaning that either side could legally
strike or lock out. Negotiations for the first two
units are scheduled to resume at the end of this month;
talks on the advertising contract are set for Sept.
3 and 4.
In Ottawa, where the parties will be in an open period
as of Sept. 10, the ONG is seeking a three-year deal
and across-the-board salary increases of 5.0, 4.5 and
4.5 per cent. The company wants another five-year contract
and has offered measly annual increases ranging from
one to two per cent, well below the most recent national
inflation rate of 3.4 per cent reported by Statistics
Canada.