TORONTO — The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) has asked the federal government for targeted funding to convert 50% of temporary and precarious workers at CBC to full-time staff.
The funding request was made by CMG CBC/Radio-Canada branch president Kim Trynacity during a 40-minute meeting with Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, said the union in a release.
“Many of the temporary employees are Black, Indigenous and people of colour,” Trynacity told the minister, according to the news release. “Converting so many temps to full-time will make the corporation more reflective of Canada, and go a long way to repairing a damaged workplace culture that must work to address issues of racism at CBC/Radio-Canada.”
More than 1,200 employees, representing approximately 25% of the workforce at CBC/Radio-Canada, are temporary workers who lack job security and any certainty about future work, says the release. Many of these are generally younger workers from diverse backgrounds.
Although Guilbeault did not promise funding, he assured Trynacity and CWA-Canada president Martin O’Hanlon addressing issues of racism across Canada is a priority.
During the meeting, CMG said it also stressed the need for a resumption of all CBC regional television news programming, which in some locations remains abbreviated during the pandemic. The union also sought assurance that future CBC/Radio-Canada funding will be linked to a moratorium on job cuts. Since 2008, there have been continuous job cuts at the public broadcaster resulting in drops in employment, diversity and news programming, as well as increased reliance on temporary workers, says CMG.
Trynacity asked that public funding for CBC/Radio-Canada be increased to $50 per capita in the next budget to help stabilize the country’s largest news service and major cultural institution at this critical time. Overall federal funding has declined over the years (but has popped up by $150 million under the Liberals) due in part to unfunded inflation, and compares poorly to funding levels for public service media in other countries, says the release.
