OTTAWA – Staff at CTV Ottawa (CJOH) were informed by Bell Media management on Friday that the station has decided to eliminate 19 full-time and approximately 15 part-time jobs by mid-June.
The positions to be impacted include camera operators, video editors and TV-production staff who are members of the Communications, Energy and Paper workers (CEP) Union of Canada. The staffing cuts follow a Bell Media announcement just a week prior to lay off a total of 16 staff at CTV Ottawa, CFRA, Majic 100, Bob-FM and Team 1200.
Richard Gray, vice-president and general manager, CTV Two and Bell Media Radio, told Cartt.ca that the cuts were due in part to a decision to expand the use of their OverDrive Automated Production Control (APC) system from Ross Video. The OverDrive system has been in place at CTV-2 (CHRO) since 2006 and when a fire in February, 2010 forced CTV Ottawa to move into the same building as CTV-2 in Ottawa's ByWard Market, it provided a “unique opportunity” to consolidate their TV production processes explains Gray.
The staffing cuts will take effect on June 18th when the OverDrive system is scheduled to be up and ready. To prepare for the transition the remaining affected staff will be trained on the new control system says Gray. OverDrive is the most popular APC system in the world with 160 plus systems on the air and growing, claims its manufacturer Ross Video of Iroquois, Ont. The system enables one person to control the switcher, lighting, audio, video, graphic effects and robotic cameras that would traditionally have taken three to nine other staffers.
The system says Ross Video, has proven to do a “better job in most production environments than a team of people and the ‘stick rate’ is close to 100%.” The manufacturer boasts that the return-on-investment of their entire OverDrive/Production switcher solution averages 18 months or less.
"Bell Media is trying to boost its already profitable bottom line on the backs of those who have helped make the company the success it is," says Dave Lewington, national representative with the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada in a statement released last Friday. He added the announced cuts have “completely devastated employees.”
Gray responds that the decision to cut staff was difficult, but unavoidable given Bell Media’s goal to make the station as cost-effective as possible by utilizing the resources that already exist within the facility.
“The announcement we made to staff on Friday is more complex than a traditional layoff notice. This is the start of a process between management and staff,” explains Gray. He adds that the station is offering affected staff “very substantial” buyout packages to encourage senior staff to voluntarily take early retirement. Gray says that if no employees choose to take the voluntary buyout package, the company would seek additional layoffs to meet their reduced target for staffing.
Lewington says more than half of the employees at CTV Ottawa have 20 years of service or more and CEP will continue the collective bargaining process with Bell Media. "We still have collective agreements to negotiate here and at six other locations in Ontario," he said. "The company is also tabling concession demands in benefits and pensions."
