OTTAWA – Employees at Canwest should not be made to suffer because of “financial problems that are of the company’s own making”, says the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP).
Responding to Canwest’s announcement that it has received CCAA protection for some of its operations, CEP VP of media Peter Murdoch said that "employees have done everything they can to sustain this company."
"Thousands have already lost their jobs, and there has been no wage increase for years”, Murdoch said in a statement. “Though management salaries have been excessive – $49 million to eight people from 2001 to 2008 – while during that same period over 1,000 Canwest employees lost their jobs. Those who are left are on pins and needles, including pensioners."
He also accused the government, banks, and media conglomerates of ignoring warnings about “the dangers of massive media convergence and unsustainable debt”.
CEP represents more than 25,000 newspaper and broadcast employees in Canada, including workers at the National Post and Global TV.
