TORONTO – Thirteen days into the CBC lockout and nothing has changed.
No budging on issues. No talking. While the union issued its latest release Friday saying any meeting would be pointless at this stage, CBC management issued its own edict this (Sunday) evening. While there are some 40 issues outstanding, the main one – an increased ability, going forward, for the Corp. to hire more workers on contract – is the key stumbling block.
“The Canadian Media Guild has made clear that it does not want to resume negotiations so long as the Corporation continues to seek the flexibility to engage future employees in certain classifications as contractual or permanent employees. The Corporation has told the Guild that it is prepared to negotiate its proposal and that we believe there is room to negotiate,” says the CBC release.
It followed that up with a few factual pointers it says clears up a few misconceptions out there.
“Many of CBC’s contract employees have worked for us for many years, and will continue to do so for many years to come,” it said,
“CBC’s contract employees include some of our most respected journalists and high-profile on-air personalities and will continue to be an important and valued part of our work force just as they are today.
“Just like permanent full time employees covered by CMG, contract employees at the CBC are also dues-paying members of the Canadian Media Guild. Contract employees are engaged for a specific role, for a specific period of time in certain limited classifications,” continued the CBC release.
The CBC also wishes to expand the classifications in which it can hire contract workers.
“Contract employees are paid at a level equivalent to permanent employees doing the same work (and)… enjoy many of the same benefits and working conditions as our permanent full time employees,” says the Corp.
“Many contract employees have access to CBC’s benefits package or receive an additional payment in lieu of health benefits including the Corporation’s contribution to pension… have access to the CBC group registered retirement savings plan among other benefits (and)… receive financial compensation commensurate with their years of service in the event a contract is not renewed at the end of the term.”
DOQ workers
CBC’s proposal on Demonstrated Occupational Qualifications extends DOQ as the standard for recall and redeployment throughout the CMG bargaining unit. “(It) wants to ensure that all employees within the bargaining unit are treated fairly and consistently with respect to redeployment and recall. Our proposal ensures that redeployment and recall will be based on a long-standing and successful threshold and will help ensure that we have a competent and competitive workforce to meet the challenges ahead,” it says.
“DOQ is not a new concept. In fact, DOQ has been the standard used for recall and redeployment under the CMG Unit 1 collective agreement since 1992, and has allowed many employees to successfully move into new roles in the organization.
“The CMG has indicated that it is no longer interested in maintaining the concept of demonstrated occupational requirements notwithstanding its lengthy history in their collective agreements.
“DOQ is not about whether a displaced employee has done the specific job before, it’s about the employee demonstrating that he or she has the qualifications, skills and experience to perform the role. In assessing DOQ, CBC would take into account an employee’s previous skills and experience in a similar role, whether the duties have been performed for another employer, and/or similar functions or positions previously held,” says the Corp.’s release.
There are 40 outstanding items on the table, outside of employee status/contract employees and workforce adjustment/DOQ, which must be settled before the CBC resumes normal operations.
They include things such as:
* Programming Commitment
* Contracting Out/Sale of Business
* Technological Change
* Work Week / Hours of Work / Overtime
* Turnaround
* On-Call
* Hiring and Promotion
* Assignment
* Salary Provisions
* Job Evaluation
* Temporary Employees
* Freelancers
* Corporation Seniority
* Training and Professional Development
* Producers’ Authority
