2012.11.13 | CWA Canada Local 30204 | Kingston Typographical Union
Sun Media's cuts, closures a 'major blow' to Kingston Local
Quebecor's revelation today that it will slash 500 jobs in its Sun Media division and close two printing plants in Kingston and Ottawa brought immediate condemnation by CWA Canada.
The union, which represents workers at several Sun Media dailies, including the Kingston Whig-Standard, insisted Quebecor stop its slash-and-burn strategy and focus on quality local jobs and journalism to boost profits.
"If we've learned anything over the last few years, it's that cutting jobs only hurts quality and that does nothing to attract readers or generate revenue," said CWA Canada Director Martin O'Hanlon.
"Quebecor talks a good story about its commitment to the communities it serves, but everything it does — from cutting local jobs to producing sub-standard local news — is bad for those communities."
O'Hanlon described the closure and cuts as a "major blow" to the Kingston Whig-Standard that "wipes out the mailroom and kills 35 jobs there. We are also losing four office staff, three advertising staff and one person in editorial, which has already been cut to the bone."
Today's news was as shocking as it was unfathomable for members of the Kingston Typographical Union (KTU).
"We had no warning at all that this was coming," said KTU President Debbie Newton. The presses at the plant were running flat out, having picked up all kinds of work when Sun Media had earlier closed smaller printing facilities in nearby communities and consolidated operations in Kingston.
The layoffs take effect in January, "when a two-per-cent wage increase kicks in," Newton noted sardonically. The Local, which had about 80 members at its peak before previous owner, Osprey Media, began shipping work off to centralized production facilities and cutting jobs, will be reduced to about 35 members: 25 in advertising and 10 in the newsroom.
Concerns of the KTU are twofold, said Newton: Increasing pressure on a reduced sales staff to sell more and further declines in the quantity and quality of news coverage.
Newton, herself an advertising rep, said it seems like the company "is setting us up to fail." Thanks to previous job cuts, they now have to function as bill collectors (being made responsible for accounts receivable) and proofreaders. Despite repeated requests, the company refuses to issue them with laptops so that they can be more productive when out on sales calls.
Cuts haven't been limited to unionized positions. In recent weeks, Sun Media has fired a number of publishers and installed advertising execs who oversee several publications and have nothing to do with the newsrooms. The Editor of a publication reports to a regional overlord.
Separating publishers from news operations speaks volumes about how much Quebecor values the editorial content in its publications.
O'Hanlon called the latest cuts at Sun Media "yet another misguided attempt to maximize profits. They just don't seem to understand that slashing and burning the product doesn't work.
"We've done our best to convince them to invest in a quality product, but they can't see it. We'll have to consider new ways to apply pressure."