Guild looks to ease pain of cuts
at public
broadcaster
Canadian
Media Guild | CWA Canada
Local 30213
As details emerged yesterday about the
impending drastic job and programming cuts at the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation, its main union was marshalling
all its resources to deal with the crisis.
The Canadian Media Guild (CMG), which represents
more than 5,000 non-managerial CBC employees outside of Moncton
NB and the province of Quebec, "is now working to channel
the concerns of Canadians and Guild members to fight these
cuts in the most appropriate way," says president Lise
Lareau.
The CMG says it has heard from many
members "who have
written or called in with suggestions of measures that could
be taken. We're listening to any and all suggestions of gestures
or sacrifices that might help alleviate the pain, and we're
prepared to discuss some of them with CBC management, with
the understanding that, if we are able to help generate some
meaningful savings, some of the cuts will be cancelled, delayed
or reversed."
"There's a combination of fear and uncertainty that
hangs in the air, and it's really hard on morale," says
CBC/Radio-Canada branch president Marc-Philippe Laurin. "This
is a very difficult time for everyone."
Of the 800 positions CBC says it needs to cut, 70 are to
come from the corporate ranks. All media lines and programs
are affected. Proportionately, cuts in network programming
are deeper than those in regional shows; on the other hand,
smaller stations have operated on a shoestring for years,
so any new cuts will have a serious impact.
Although management has been saying that no stations would
be closed, for large numbers of Canadians the result will
be the same. People in the Windsor region are losing all
their local French-language programming, and English-speaking
residents of northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba will no longer
see or hear their stories reflected on their national public
broadcaster, as programming out of La Ronge and Thompson
is eliminated.
The CBC News website has the best summary
of the English-service
cuts and the Radio-Canada
site has details on plans for the French
service.
As for staff reductions, the CMG notes that redundancy or
layoff notices will not be issued until May at the earliest.
The CBC is awaiting federal approval of the voluntary retirement
incentive program, and the joint employment committees are
just starting to do their work.
(This is an edited version of an article first posted on the Canadian
Media Guild website.)