HAMILTON – CHCH-TV Hamilton is denying claims that it cut staff, declared bankruptcy and then re-formed as a new company in order to sidestep contractual obligations to its union.
According to a CBC News report, an email from a CHCH accounts manager leaked to media claims that CH management cut dozens of employees in order to form a new company "free of old Union employees and their demands".
"We just needed to disband the previous company and form a new one where changes could be made, free from old Union employees and their demands and free from carryover debt of CanWest," wrote Kathleen Marks in an email that appears to be directed at a client or prospective client.
The report also quotes company spokesperson Sarah Louise Gardiner who confirmed the email's authenticity, but said the comments were Marks’ personal opinion and is "absolutely not reflective of leadership" at CHCH or its parent company Channel Zero.
As Cartt.ca reported, CHCH declared bankruptcy on Friday and cut all of its 167 employees. Eighty-one have since been offered positions with the new company.
Unifor representative Liz Marzari said in the report that employees who lost their jobs will have to get in line as creditors in the company's bankruptcy proceedings for any severance their contract says they're owed.
In related news, Unifor79m president and media council chairperson Randy Kitt has kicked off a campaign soliciting donations for the more than 80 UniforM1 members “who have been let go without severance just before the holidays”.
A crowdfunding site entitled Unifor M1 Support Fund seeks to raise $10,000.
