Almost two dozen members of CWA Canada took part in a leadership course that had several sessions devoted to turmoil in the media industry.

20 January 2010

Union leaders get timely training
on dealing with media industry crisis

The crisis and ensuing changes in Canadian news media were the focus of a three-day leadership course that attracted 23 participants from 13 Locals to Toronto for the weekend.

The course started exactly one week after Canwest, CWA Canada’s largest newspaper owner, filed for protection from its creditors in face of billions of dollars of debt. The training started off looking at the financial problems in the media, the domination of chain ownership from coast to coast and how unions have to deal with that reality.
 
There was discussion of what qualities make a good leader and the “meat and potatoes” of how executive committees should guide their Locals. Other topics included communications and mobilization. A special segment on “Talking Equity” was presented by Terri Montune, the Canadian Media Guild’s new staff representative who deals with diversity issues.
 
Patricia D’Heureux and Sean FitzPatrick, two of the union's lawyers, joined the session on dealing with grievances and arbitrations, which was led by CWA Canada staff representative David Esposti.
 
The leadership school ended with a final session on considering strategies and key union principles in dealing with an industry that is undergoing extreme stress and transition.
 
In addition to Esposti, the two other instructors were CWA Canada Director Arnold Amber and staff representative David Wilson.  
 
The course was held at the Toronto offices of OPSEU, Ontario’s largest public service union.