2014.11.23 | CWA Canada Local 30111 | Montreal Newspaper Guild
Montreal Gazette workers to hold strike vote
CWA Canada members who work at The Gazette in Montreal will not be turning the other cheek in response to a slap-in-the-face contract offer from their employer. They will be holding a strike vote on Dec. 4.
Ron Carroll, president of the Montreal Newspaper Guild (MNG), said that members overwhelmingly rejected a tentative agreement in a ratification vote held Nov. 16. Days later, owner Postmedia responded with an offer that merely tweaked some contract language and signing bonuses.
“Our members were looking for acknowledgement of the hard work people are putting in to keep this company afloat,” said Carroll. Instead, they got a “slap in the face.”
“It came down to a simple matter of lack of respect,” said CWA Canada staff representative David Wilson, who has been assisting in the negotiations. The MNG’s 126 members “are in no mood to give them anything, especially with their increased workload while CEOs and investors (in the company) are raking it in.”
Only the Information Technology department accepted the company’s offer of 1.0, 1.0 and 1.5 per cent in a three-year deal. Members in Editorial, Business Office, Reader Sales & Service and Retail Advertising resoundingly rejected the offer, said Wilson. (No votes were cast by members in Classified Advertising.)
When results of the ratification vote were announced, said Wilson, members “wanted to take a strike vote right there on the spot.”