TORONTO – Preliminary talks resume today between the CBC and the Canadian Media Guild, aimed at ending the more than two-week-old lockout that is mainly about wages and contracting out.
The corporation says chief negotiators from both sides “have had some meaningful contact over the last few days” and will start to discuss unresolved issues.
Representatives are meeting in smaller groups “to enable more focused, committed discussion between the parties,” the broadcaster says.
“CBC welcomes this opportunity to get back to the table to continue discussions with the CMG on all of the outstanding issues so we can work…
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OTTAWA – Prominent broadcasters were named to the Order of Canada this week by Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson.
Longtime TV executive Trina McQueen was named an Officer, while Winnipeg CBC broadcaster Robert Enright was named a Member. Toronto-born ABC anchor Peter Jennings was named a Member posthumously, though he was told of the honour just days before he died of lung cancer at the age of 67.
McQueen had been a broadcaster for more than three decades, including as Executive Vice-President of CTV, a post she left when she retired in 2001 to become active as a volunteer on several…
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OTTAWA – The CBC has revealed the details of its latest offer to the union that precipitated the two-week-old lockout, as both sides gear up to resume formal negotiations on Wednesday.
The corporation says on Aug. 11, it gave its second comprehensive offer to the Canadian Media Guild containing proposals on all financial items, including general wage increases, payments for reclassifying positions, and retroactive payments.
The CBC says it’s committed to spending $17.4 million in retroactive payments and wage increases to offset job evaluation, which in some cases would alter pay scales. Of that amount, $15 million would be retroactive…
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TORONTO – Reports swirling around all weekend long after the Liberals’ cabinet retreat in Regina suggest that Heritage Minister Liza Frulla is hoping to get her fellow cabinet ministers on-side to ask the CRTC to review or rescind its June 16th decision to license a pair of satellite radio companies.
Both companies are taking the reports seriously, executives told www.cartt.ca on Monday. Cabinet has until September 14th to decide what it may do.
“From the outset Madame Frulla has been worried about the overall number of French stations. No surprise,” said SIRIUS Canada president Kevin Shea. “In fairness, she…
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OTTAWA – The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union said today that the CBC is “misinforming Canadians about its critical lockout issue” and should get back to serious collective bargaining.
A quick, informal survey by CEP, “shows that contract work is not nearly as in play in the private sector as it is in the public broadcaster,” claims the press release.
“The claim that more contract employees will make the CBC more like the private sector is not true,” continues CEP, which is not the CBC union. CBC employees are represented by the Canadian Media Guild.
"The most successful private…
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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…
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TORONTO – As the CBC lockout drags on, the Canadian Football League and TSN announced this morning (Sunday) that the CTV-owned sports network will broadcast the Toronto Argonaut-Hamilton Tiger-Cats traditional Labour Day game.
As football fans around the country know, CBC has now broadcast two games (including last night’s Calgary at Saskatchewan tilt) using management and others in the production trucks and behind the cameras – and with no announcing crew or game analysts.
(Ed note: We watched large chunks of both games and while the decreased yakkety-yak during the games was a pleasant change on one level, announcers -…
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OTTAWA – The job of chair of the CBC has been open since past chair Carole Taylor decided to get into politics in British Columbia. CBC CEO Robert Rabinovitch has been filling in but the federal government has decided now’s the time for a new chair.
So, if you’re interested… the posting is out today. Time for the speculating on who’ll get the post to begin.
CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION
Chairperson (part-time position)
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Canada’s national public broadcaster, was created by an Act of Parliament on November 2, 1936, and now operates under the 1991 Broadcasting…
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NEW YORK – SIRIUS Satellite Radio made a pair of announcements today touting the shrinking nature of the satellite radio receivers.
The first is its smallest plug and play car receiver. The Starmate Replay, at 5 x 1.9 inches and 0.8 inches thick, weighs just 3.9 ounces. The small satellite radio features a five-line screen that displays the artist’s name and song title, a four-way navigation button, and a sleek shape specially designed for easy integration into today’s vehicles.
The radio has 44 minutes of replay capability, allowing the user to pause, rewind and fast forward their favorite music,…
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TORONTO – Rogers and Bell may have had the press releases out first this year, but Telus Mobility is the first to market with mobile TV – video to cell phones.
Telus Mobility today launched Telus mobile TV, offering clients across Canada real-time access to live television programming including news, weather and shopping channels on their wireless phones.
Both Rogers and Bell made announcements earlier this year that the service was coming soon (those releases anticipated the service would be in the market by now from both companies), powered by MobiTV, but both companies say technical issues has…
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