CBC shuffles sked, talks continue
TORONTO (CP) — CBC-TV announced Thursday it is indefinitely postponing its much-hyped Trudeau prequel miniseries as negotiations in the broadcaster’s labour dispute continued with no word of progress.
The network also postponed a fall program launch it was planning for the media next week, an event union members vowed would be picketed wherever it occurred.
“While CBC Television is encouraged that preliminary talks between CBC and CMG have resumed, negotiations have not proceeded far enough to permit the event to proceed,” said a statement from the broadcaster.
CBC spokesman Jason MacDonald conceded that even if the dispute ended immediately, the fall TV schedule would not be business as usual.
“There are still 40 issues outstanding and that’s going to take some time to negotiate, and then even once we reach an agreement we have to get it ratified by members, so there’s some time still before this is completely resolved, obviously,” he said.
MacDonald said the broadcaster is proud of the Trudeau miniseries, which was to air in two parts Sept. 25 and 26 and given the work that was put into it, they wanted to promote it properly.
“And because of the labour situation, we thought it would be best to move it,” he added.
Meanwhile, both sides said there was no news from the negotiating table.
The talks between management and the CMG resumed on Wedneday in what was seen as a positive step 21/2 weeks after the network locked out 5,500 of its unionized employees when 15 months of contract negotiations broke down.
The main issue at stake is job security; the broadcaster wants more freedom to designate new employees as either permanent employees, contract workers with set starting and ending dates, or temporary workers, who are called in to fill openings as needed.
CBC on Thursday did issue a September schedule now dominated by documentaries, including Michael Moore’s Bowling For Columbine, the Canadian produced Sex Slaves — a look at the international marketing of women from the former Soviet Union — and McLibel, the story of an Englishman who took on the McDonald’s restaurant chain in the courts.
CBC also plans to carry live Monday’s Edmonton vs. Calgary CFL game and The Canadian Country Music Awards hosted by Paul Brandt, on Sept. 12 from Calgary’s Saddledome.
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