Layoff notices issued at CBC
Layoff notices were being issued at the CBC on Wednesday.
According to the Canadian Media Guild, contracts for 100 employees will not be renewed, 158 permanent employees will be laid off and 19 vacant jobs will remain unfilled.
In addition, the guild says 73 employees are taking retirement incentives.
“We are losing very experienced people who have devoted years to the CBC and we’re also losing people who were beginning what should have been long and bright careers at the public broadcaster,” Marc Philippe Laurin, president of the Canadian Media Guild’s CBC branch, said in a release.
“Viewers, listeners and web surfers will notice their absence as programming is scaled back or cancelled altogether.”
A spokesman for the CBC said the media guild’s numbers were accurate, but cautioned that the situation is in flux as layoff notices are given out.
He said a final picture may not be clear until later in the summer.
In March, the public broadcaster said that about 393 jobs would have to be cut in its English-language service to make up for an $85-million budget shortfall.
The CBC faces a $171 million shortfall overall.
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