2016.01.22 | CWA Canada Local 30130 | Halifax Typographical Union
Halifax journalists down to the wire with union-busting Herald
At one minute past midnight tonight, The Chronicle Herald and its 61 unionized newsroom employees will be in a legal strike or lockout position.
“We believe it’s clear that busting the union is the Herald’s primary goal during this process,” the Halifax Typographical Union (HTU) said in a news release.
Grant Machum of Stewart McKelvey, Herald lawyer and chief negotiator, advertises he’s been “successfully advising employers on operating union free for over 20 years.”
The company has never budged from its proposals, which make 1,232 changes to the existing contract. These proposals, if accepted, would damage our working conditions so much that we would exist as a union in name only, said the release.
Nancy Cook, the Herald’s vice-president of administration, calls these proposals common to newspaper contracts in Canada.
But David Wilson, who negotiates collective agreements at CWA Canada Locals across the country, said that is simply not true.
“The company’s proposed layoff clause doesn’t exist in any newspaper that I deal with,” Wilson said. “The hours of work and overtime (no overtime until 48 hours); that doesn’t exist anywhere.
“When the Herald says this, it is misleading its readers and Nova Scotians.”
The Herald’s proposals also clearly attack the quality of the product, something unionized journalists take great pride in.
Management says some positions “have become unnecessary and inefficient, specifically in the areas of layout and photography.”
Late Thursday, the HTU learned the Herald has arranged a news-sharing agreement with Irving-owned Brunswick News.
The newspaper told the union representing reporters, photographers, editors, columnists, editorial writers and library and support staff that it would impose regressive working conditions when the current contract expires at midnight today.
For more information, contact:
David Wilson, CWA Canada staff rep, 613-850-5423
Ingrid Bulmer, HTU president, 902-210-3465
Frank Campbell, HTU vice-president, 902-497-0057