TORONTO – After four full days on the picket lines – and lots of BBC programming hitting the airwaves, there are no new talks planned between the CBC and its locked out Canadian Media Guild union members.
However, says the CMG, the Guild’s chief negotiator, Dan Oldfield, is in daily contact with his counterpart from management, Stephen Satchel.
Satchel is the new lead negotiator for the CBC as the Corp.’s head of industrial relations, Michelle Sparling, removed herself from the table last week in an attempt to see if that would move along the talks.
On Tuesday, federal mediators attempted to get the two sides together “but the Guild was told by the mediators that the management team said it was sticking to its position and that it was not yet time to resume negotiations,” says the union.
“In light of the Corporation’s response, we decided it was important to allow the members of our committee from outside Toronto to return home. They have been away from their families for weeks. However, six members of the Guild’s bargaining committee are in the Toronto area, including Dan Oldfield and CBC branch president Arnold Amber. They are available and willing to go back to the table anytime management decides it is ready to negotiate.”
