11 November 2009

CHEK TV rescuer urges unions
to prepare now for Canwest newspaper sales

Leaders of union locals at Canwest newspapers must start exploring alternative ownership options as the media conglomerate struggles to stave off bankruptcy.

Richard Konwick, one of the saviours of CHEK TV in Victoria BC, told members of CWA Canada's National Representative Council that they need to be prepared to take a leadership role to determine the future of their employers.

Konwick is assignment editor and president of the CEP union local at the station, which was saved from closing on Aug. 31 by an employee-driven ownership group that took control of the station from Canwest. The sale was approved Monday by the CRTC, which renewed the station's broadcasting licence until 2016.

Konwick said it wouldn't have been possible to save the station from closure had it not been unionized. He also gave credit to station manager John Pollard, who put CHEK's interest ahead of Canwest's and was the first to get the ball rolling.

Delegates were told that having a unionized workforce is an advantage to survival of newspapers and television stations that become casualties of crumbling media empires in Canada and the United States. The rescue of CHEK is a perfect case in point.

The fact that they were unionized gave the CHEK employees a structure and enabled Konwick to negotiate on their behalf. With CEP help, employees bought 25 per cent of the equity with the remainder coming from local investors.

Lise Lareau, president of the Canadian Media Guild, said the employee-led rescue of CHEK was "a miraculous story," especially considering that "Canwest wouldn't play ball until the last minute."

She noted that the sale of CHEK was worked out in five weeks; usually it would take about eight months.

Lareau, who reported the deal in her Media Biz blog, said the big lesson learned from Konwick's seminar was that media employees "have to stick together, work together and be players in the future of their newspaper of TV station."

"Unions have taken a leadership role in the future of many industries. Our members know this business,and have more riding on the outcome," said Lareau, who has been exploring alternative ownership models. She was most impressed with a recent study by Free Press in the United States that provides a wealth of information on models ranging from non-profits to community ownership.

“However, the alternative ownership model need be nothing more than ensuring employees receive a stake in their company from a sacrifice they make to help preserve the business,” Lareau added. “There are a range of solutions that we need to explore.”

"The Canwest papers could be up for grabs soon. We need to start looking at options before they go on the block. We need to be in the driver's seat," said Lareau, who's looking forward to "promoting the end of the conglomerate model and encouraging local ownership of daily newspapers once again."