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Global Protests Support Locked-Out Canadian Journalists
Chanting "The whole world is watching," about 100 CWA and fellow union members, along with journalists from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, protested outside the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., Sept. 12 to urge the government to take action to end the CBC's 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.
The workers, including production, technical and administrative staff across Canada, are members of TNG-CWA through the Canadian Media Guild. They were locked out Aug. 15 after a year at the bargaining table. Talks resumed in September, but key job security issues remained unresolved in late September.
As the CWA News went to press, the president of CBC was expected to be called before Parliament's Heritage Committee to explain the lockout.
Meanwhile, American filmmaker Michael Moore joined the chorus of public figures denouncing the CBC. In late September, he demanded that the network drop plans to air his Academy-Award-winning film "Bowling for Columbine."
"I do not want my film being broadcast on the network unless it is willing to let its own workers back in to work and promises to bargain with them in good faith," Moore said, calling the lockout "an action that is abhorrent to all who believe in the rights of people to collectively bargain. Why the great and honorable CBC is behaving like an American corporation is beyond me."
The union is fighting CBC's demands to hire virtually unlimited numbers of temporary workers, gravely affecting employees' job security and the high quality news and shows that Canadian viewers have come to expect.
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 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.
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.
The workers, including production, technical and administrative staff across Canada, are members of TNG-CWA through the Canadian Media Guild. They were locked out Aug. 15 after a year at the bargaining table. Talks resumed in September, but key job security issues remained unresolved in late September.
As the CWA News went to press, the president of CBC was expected to be called before Parliament's Heritage Committee to explain the lockout.
Meanwhile, American filmmaker Michael Moore joined the chorus of public figures denouncing the CBC. In late September, he demanded that the network drop plans to air his Academy-Award-winning film "Bowling for Columbine."
"I do not want my film being broadcast on the network unless it is willing to let its own workers back in to work and promises to bargain with them in good faith," Moore said, calling the lockout "an action that is abhorrent to all who believe in the rights of people to collectively bargain. Why the great and honorable CBC is behaving like an American corporation is beyond me."
The union is fighting CBC's demands to hire virtually unlimited numbers of temporary workers, gravely affecting employees' job security and the high quality news and shows that Canadian viewers have come to expect.
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 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.