OTTAWA – The Federal Minister of Labour, Joe Fontana, has requested that representatives of CBC and the Canadian Media Guild meet with him on Monday, September 26 in Ottawa to discuss the CBC lockout.
“CBC is happy to attend, and welcomes any opportunity to move the parties closer to a negotiated settlement,” said a CBC release this afternoon.
As reported by www.cartt.ca, the negotiations appeared to take a bit of a step back this week and the optimism that was building through the past 10 days or so was killed.
The Canadian Media Guild is pleased with the news.
“Strength on the picket lines and outreach to the public have resulted in the first major sign of a breakthrough in negotiations between the Canadian Media Guild and CBC management. Today, federal labour minister Joe Fontana sent a letter to the Guild and to CBC management asking both sides to meet with him next Monday, which will mark the beginning of the seventh week of the lockout,” says a CMG release.
The minister cited "the grave concerns expressed by many Canadians over the length of the work stoppage,” says the union, repeating Fontana’s letter.
"We have been working very hard during this past week to get this meeting going," said Amber. "We need some assistance to get the contract done and we need the right people in the room. If the main decision-makers from CBC senior management are there, this thing could be settled within five days after Monday."
The two negotiating teams are meeting this afternoon to discuss implementation of job evaluation and the Guild hopes to continue meeting through the weekend.
