TORONTO – Agreement was reached Tuesday night on one of the most important issues in the lockout, the Canadian Media Guild said on Wednesday.
The CMG and CBC management finalized the wording on the article on "contracting out." The article addresses situations such as the contracting out earlier this year of the publicity department (where most of the department was let go). “To be clear, it is not about hiring employees on contract,” says the union release.
“The contracting out article sets out the rules and processes the Corporation must follow if it intends to outsource any of the work currently done by CMG members. During the discussions, management’s chief negotiator said that there are no plans at the moment for any further contracting out.”
Then, later on Wednesday, the board of directors of the CBC finally made a statement on the lockout – fully backing management and its handling of the situation. It reads as follows:
First, we thank CBC/Radio-Canada listeners and viewers for their support of the Corporation’s creative talent and its programs. We are inspired by the personal messages of the importance of public broadcasting to Canadians, and we will do our best to keep faith with them.
Second, we believe management’s proposals are reasonable and prudent, given the reality of our funding expectations. We do not believe they will alter the nature of the work force in a negative way. Rather, they will allow programmers to take more creative risks, and they will open the door to new and diverse talent. These represent values that are fundamental to Canadian public broadcasting.
Third, we very strongly believe that the best outcome is a negotiated settlement between the union and management who will have to live with the contract, day to day, for many years. We commend management and the union for the progress they have made in recent weeks. They should build on that momentum.
Management has committed to us that they will continue to bargain in good faith and flexibly. Both parties must find ways to say yes to each other.
One of the issues that has attracted most attention, the employment of contract staff, in our view, has been seriously misunderstood and misrepresented. The new contract employees will remain a small fraction of the Corporation’s work force, and they will be well paid union members with a superior benefit program.
We want to pay tribute to the President of the CBC/Radio-Canada, Robert Rabinovitch, for his commitment to public broadcasting. We fully support the strategic vision of his management team.
We also want to pay tribute to the talent, skills and hard work of the CMG members. They have produced work that is part of Canada’s national treasure. We look forward to welcoming them back to the jobs they do so well.
Predictably, the CMG didn’t react so well to this release.
"The board had a choice to set a new direction to bring a speedy end to the lockout," said Lise Lareau, president of the Guild. "Instead, they chose to endorse Robert Rabinovitch and his aggressive strategy, which has led to the biggest crisis in the CBC’s history. The board statement does not provide any light at the end of the tunnel."
The proposed new board chair, Guy Fournier, “told the reporters that the board statement reflects a change in tone. He said he thought both parties were ready for compromise. The Guild hopes Fournier’s view prevails at the bargaining table,” says the union’s release.
“The board appears to misunderstand one of the key issues that remain unresolved in the lockout when it says that contract employees will continue to be ‘a small fraction of the Corporation’s workforce.’”
