Canadian Broadcaster Locks Out 5,500 CMG Members

The 5,500 members of the Canadian Media Guild have been locked out by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation after negotiations broke down over management's demand to hire nearly unlimited numbers of "temporary workers," jeopardizing the jobs and careers of the CBC employees.

CMG bargainers have repeatedly worked to meet management's demand for "flexibility" with proposals that balance the blend of permanent and non-permanent employees. But the management committee continued to insist on "untenable concessions and overwhelming changes to the way work is done at the CBC," said CMG President Lise Lareau.

Lareau called the lockout an aggressive move, one that puts the future of public broadcasting in jeopardy.

CBC employees—on-air, production, technical and administrative staff—are walking picket lines and building support for maintaining the high-quality public broadcasting of CBC. In a letter to members, Lareau called on CBC workers to "rally together to be strong voices for the defense of public broadcasting."

The two sides have been at the table for more than a year to reach a single agreement covering all TNG-CWA members working at CBC outside Quebec. The employees were formerly in three separate units.

In addition to management's demand to hire most new employees on a temporary basis, other critical issues are contracting out, employees' right to reassignment in the event of downsizing, overtime compensation and better opportunity for training and skills development.

TNG-CWA/Canada Director Arnold Amber called the negotiations "the worst set of proposals I have ever seen from the corporation."