TORONTO – The Canadian Media Guild came to the bargaining table Thursday with a settlement offer. Management was not encouraged, to say the least.
“The CBC is disappointed with the settlement offer tabled today by the CMG. After some positive momentum over the past weeks, the CMG’s offer fails to move us closer to an agreement,” says a CBC statement.
“The CMG didn’t propose any compromise on the two key issues – Employment Status/Contract Employees and Staff Reduction including Demonstrated Occupational Qualifications. The proposal also moves us apart in five or six key areas by including additional issues never previously tabled.”
“The Guild’s proposal on contract employees is actually more restrictive than the current collective agreement,” adds the statement, dripping with incredulity.
For its part, the Guild said in its statement Thursday that it’s frustrated by the slow pace of the talks and created the new proposal as a way to speed things up.
"With 5,500 members on the street, this is no time to turn the negotiations into a debating society. We need real negotiations on all the remaining issues. The dynamics of the talks had to be changed and management has to realize how important it is that we get our work done as soon as possible. With our offer of settlement, the Corporation now has an overall view of where the negotiations must go," said Dan Oldfield, CMG’s chief negotiator.
The Guild’s offer proposes “a 60-month collective agreement expiring on March 31, 2009. We have proposed across-the-board wage increases of 3.5% in every year of the agreement, fully retroactive to April 1, 2004. We are also seeking a signing bonus of $1000 for each member who has worked 60 days or more in the 12 months prior to the lockout. The bonus would be paid out of the money saved by the Corporation during the lockout,” says the Guild statement.
“The agreement includes a new proposal on Employment Status that addresses the Corporation’s need for operational flexibility and improves job security and benefits, including pension, for contract employees. The proposal also permits contract employees who have been engaged for more than three years to convert to permanent staff. We’ve also proposed a type of seniority for temporary employees for access to work, and protection from termination before the agreed-upon end of engagement. And we are asking for a complete review of all non-permanent engagements to ensure that our members have been hired properly and that they are getting all their entitlements.”
Click here to read the proposal.
“The union has proposed that any on-going work needs to be performed exclusively by permanent employees, which is radically different than the current reality,” continues the CBC statement. “CBC has repeatedly told the union that there is room to negotiate on this issue, but reducing our current flexibility is not an option we can consider.
“Similarly, the CMG has not made any effort to compromise on Staff Reduction, which includes Demonstrated Occupational Qualifications (DOQ). DOQ is not a new concept and has existed in the CMG Unit 1 collective agreement for 12 years. The CMG has indicated that it is no longer interested in maintaining the concept of DOQ and wishes to change the qualifications threshold. This is troubling. The Guild is also seeking to expand bumping rights across the media lines. This does not exist in the current CMG Unit 1 collective agreement. The Guild has also proposed that all non-permanent employees, including respected journalists, hosts and producers currently on contract, would have to leave the organization prior to any qualified permanent employee being laid-off.
“Despite having negotiated for 16 months, the CMG has now chosen to raise new issues such as multi-skilling and additional payments for overtime. The union is also seeking premiums for work that has already been rated and accounted for through the Job Evaluation process that we have been working on for the last seven years.
“The Guild wants a 3 ½ percent increase in each year of the collective agreement. Considering the fiscal realities of the CBC and the ongoing pressures within the organization, this is an unreasonable demand.
“The parties have worked hard since the lockout began, and have reduced the list of unresolved issues from 40 down to just 14 before the Guild added more issues in their settlement offer. The CBC was hopeful that we were drawing closer to concluding a collective agreement. Introducing new issues at this late, and critical, juncture can only serve to delay reaching a final agreement to get CBC employees back to the work they do best – creating exceptional public broadcasting.
“Despite our disappointment, we will carefully review the document tabled and will consider proposing a counter offer. The CBC remains committed to reaching a negotiated collective agreement with the CMG and is prepared to bargain day and night to get there.”
