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Global Protests Support Canadian Journalists
Chanting "The whole world is watching," about 100 CWA and other union members, along with journalists from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, protested outside the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. at lunch time Sept. 12 to urge the government to take action to end the CBC's month-long lockout of 5,500 workers.
Other demonstrations were held in London and Jerusalem and union members and journalists in major capitals throughout the world, including Canberra, Copenhagen, Paris, Berlin, Seoul, Tokyo and Tel Aviv, delivered letters and met with Canadian embassy officials.
"The lockout has shaken public confidence in the CBC and damaged the network's international reputation, especially here in the United States," CWA President Larry Cohen and The Newspaper Guild-CWA President Linda Foley said in letters to the Canadian ambassador, which they presented at the embassy.
The locked-out workers, including production, technical and administrative staff across Canada, are members of TNG's Canadian Media Guild. The union is fighting CBC's demands to hire virtually unlimited numbers of temporary workers, gravely affecting employees' job security as well as the high quality news and shows that Canadian viewers have come to expect.
After a year at the bargaining table, management locked the doors Aug. 15. Talks have resumed but many major issues remain unresolved.
Speaking at the Washington rally, Cohen, Foley and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney decried how a once proud public broadcaster was mimicking the bullying and greedy behavior of so many private corporations today.
"The Canadian Media Guild members are up against a company - funded by the Canadian government - that wants to turn full-time, quality jobs into temporary work," Cohen said. "This would be an outrageous demand coming from a private company. It's completely unacceptable from a public broadcaster."
"The concerns that these workers have are the shared concerns of every worker in America - every worker in the world today," Sweeney said. "Your fight is our fight."
Neil MacDonald, a locked-out worker from the CBC's Washington news bureau, told the crowd that the union has compromised for years on wages and job security - in fact, contract employees comprise a full 90 percent of the Washington staff. Yet CBC has ignored the union's concessions and is publicly blaming members for the strife.
"We're not unreasonable people," he said. "We're just trying to hang on to some of what we've earned over the years."
Many of the Washington's bureau 30 contract workers came to the rally in support of their locked-out colleagues and one of them, Henry Champ, spoke. He called the lockout "a blow against good journalism."
Cohen and Foley said the CBC is disgracing Canada's reputation as a country with strong social and worker rights.
The global protests were coordinated by the International Federation of Journalists. "The Government of Canada must not interfere in the operation of CBC, but it has a duty to protect Canada's good name and the reputation of its public broadcasting service which is being seriously damaged by the actions of CBC management," IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said.
Other demonstrations were held in London and Jerusalem and union members and journalists in major capitals throughout the world, including Canberra, Copenhagen, Paris, Berlin, Seoul, Tokyo and Tel Aviv, delivered letters and met with Canadian embassy officials.
"The lockout has shaken public confidence in the CBC and damaged the network's international reputation, especially here in the United States," CWA President Larry Cohen and The Newspaper Guild-CWA President Linda Foley said in letters to the Canadian ambassador, which they presented at the embassy.
The locked-out workers, including production, technical and administrative staff across Canada, are members of TNG's Canadian Media Guild. The union is fighting CBC's demands to hire virtually unlimited numbers of temporary workers, gravely affecting employees' job security as well as the high quality news and shows that Canadian viewers have come to expect.
After a year at the bargaining table, management locked the doors Aug. 15. Talks have resumed but many major issues remain unresolved.
Speaking at the Washington rally, Cohen, Foley and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney decried how a once proud public broadcaster was mimicking the bullying and greedy behavior of so many private corporations today.
"The Canadian Media Guild members are up against a company - funded by the Canadian government - that wants to turn full-time, quality jobs into temporary work," Cohen said. "This would be an outrageous demand coming from a private company. It's completely unacceptable from a public broadcaster."
"The concerns that these workers have are the shared concerns of every worker in America - every worker in the world today," Sweeney said. "Your fight is our fight."
Neil MacDonald, a locked-out worker from the CBC's Washington news bureau, told the crowd that the union has compromised for years on wages and job security - in fact, contract employees comprise a full 90 percent of the Washington staff. Yet CBC has ignored the union's concessions and is publicly blaming members for the strife.
"We're not unreasonable people," he said. "We're just trying to hang on to some of what we've earned over the years."
Many of the Washington's bureau 30 contract workers came to the rally in support of their locked-out colleagues and one of them, Henry Champ, spoke. He called the lockout "a blow against good journalism."
Cohen and Foley said the CBC is disgracing Canada's reputation as a country with strong social and worker rights.
The global protests were coordinated by the International Federation of Journalists. "The Government of Canada must not interfere in the operation of CBC, but it has a duty to protect Canada's good name and the reputation of its public broadcasting service which is being seriously damaged by the actions of CBC management," IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said.