Category: CBC

Sirius Canada announces 100-channel lineup
Sirius Canada, one of the two groups proposing new Canadian satellite pay-radio networks, has unveiled the channel lineup for its upcoming launch.
The company, a joint venture between Sirius Satellite Radio from the U.S. and Canadian partners CBC/Radio-Canada and Standard Broadcasting, says it is set to launch 100 radio channels ñ 60 dedicated solely to music and 10 specifically Canadian channels.
“Canadians will be able to experience Sirius in time for the holidays,” company president and CEO Mark Redmond said in a statement.
Six of the 10 Canadian channels will be provided by the CBC and Radio-Canada:
– CBC Radio One: English-language news, current affairs and documentaries.
РPremiËre Plus: French-language news and current affairs.
– Infoplus: French-language news from Radio-Canada and public broadcasters worldwide.
– RCI Plus: Radio-Canada International programming in eight languages, including English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin.
– CBC Radio 3: English-language independent music and culture.
– bandeapart: Francophone music.
The remaining four will be provided by Standard, Astral and Score Media:
– Hardcore Sports Radio: Canadian sports news and talk.
– Iceberg Radio: Commercial-free rock music.
– Rock Velours: French-language channel dedicated to soft rock.
– Energie: French-language station playing French and English pop, rock and urban music.
Music channels on Sirius Canada’s lineup will include U.K. music from BBC Radio 1, Stephen Van Zandt’s Underground Garage, Jimmy Buffet’s Radio Margaritaville and Eminem’s Shade 45.
Sports channels will include three dedicated play-by-play stations for NHL, NBA and NFL games as well as ESPN News.
News services include National Public Radio Now, Bloomberg Radio, CNN and BBC World News.
Martha Stewart Living Radio, Laugh Break, Maxim Radio and E! Entertainment Radio are among the other offerings.
The network will offer “a new platform that’ll cover every corner of the country √± on the road, a boat, at home, etc. √± and vastly enhanced reach for our radio services, which so many listeners at home and abroad have already come to know, trust and love,” read a message from Radio de Radio-Canada vice president Sylvain Lafrance, CBC Radio vice president Jane Chalmers and Michel Tremblay, vice president of CBC strategy and business development.
In June, the CRTC granted satellite radio licences to two groups ñ Sirius Canada Inc. and Canadian Satellite Radio Inc. (CSR), which is partnered with U.S. satellite radio company XM.
Following the broadcast regulator’s decision, several groups √± including some Liberal MPs and a number of cultural groups √± pushed for these licences to be overturned or sent back because they felt the Canadian content regulations were too low in the initial proposals.
However, both CSR and Sirius eventually revised their proposals to offer more Canadian channels and, in September, the federal government upheld the CRTC’s decision to issue the licences.

Lockout worth it, CBC boss says
OTTAWA (CP) – The eight-week lockout of CBC employees didn’t save any money, hurt market share and damaged employee relations – but was still worth it, says the president of the public broadcaster.
Under close questioning by skeptical MPs, Robert Rabinovitch said Thursday the lockout was essential to head off a strike later in the fall which would have disrupted new programming as well as NHL broadcasts.
He not only blamed the union for provoking the lockout but suggested Parliament, by cutting CBC funding over past decades, also helped push the corporation into a financial corner.
“People have asked whether the lockout was worth it and my answer was yes,” Rabinovitch told MPs on the all-party heritage committee, who peppered him with questions about low employee morale and future labour relations.
Rabinovitch said he feared that if he didn’t bring matters to a head with the mid-August lockout, the 5,500 Canadian Media Guild employees would strike in late fall and disrupt important television programming.
The choice was either “wait and let the union strike at a time of their choosing . . . or bring negotiations to a head at a relatively quiet time of the year,” he said.
Actually, a strike in late fall was impossible since the union’s strike mandate expired Sept. 6, an angry Arnold Amber – chief negotiator for the union – said outside the committee room.
“He is lying . . . what we got today is a lot of spin,” said Amber.
“If there was a vote of confidence held amongst staff today, Mr. Rabinovitch and his entire group of senior managers would go.”
The committee postponed a vote on its own motion of non-confidence in Rabinovitch from New Democrat MP Charlie Angus.
But MPs made their feelings clear.
“There is no confidence in you around this table,” said Bloc Quebecois MP Carole Lavallee, who accused Rabinovitch of seriously undermining employee relations.
“The members who are here have no compliments to pay you.”
Journalists, technicians and clerical staff were locked out of the public broadcaster from Aug. 15 to early October when a contract, which runs to March 2009, was finally reached to end the dispute.
Amber also disputed claims by Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of English television, that the lockout saved CBC no money.
The extra costs of security during the lockout, higher management expenses to keep CBC radio and TV on the air and loss of advertising revenues offset eight weeks’ worth of savings on employee wages and benefits, Stursberg told the committee.
“We’ve ended up, basically, zero. There is no savings to the corporation.”
Actually, says the union, CBC probably saved about $50 million on employee costs but doesn’t want to admit it.
“We should get an auditor in there,” said Amber.
Liberal Marlene Catterral, chair of the heritage committee, also sounded skeptical of CBC’s figures: “Management, when it works overtime, doesn’t usually get paid overtime.”
The hearing started badly for Rabinovitch, who doused himself with water and crashed to the highly polished committee room floor after his chair slipped out from under him just before the session began.
He reminded MPs several times how government funding for CBC has dropped even as inflation and rising production costs have steadily pushed up costs.
At the same time, questions are being raised about English language TV programming and market share has also been falling at Newsworld – especially since the revamped CTV Newsnet channel emerged, he said.
Rabinovitch also insisted CBC’s board of directors was kept informed of management’s strategy to lock out workers before they could strike.
But while the board was aware of the lockout plan, it didn’t exactly endorse it, said Guy Fournier, a newcomer to the CBC board, who closely watched the committee hearing.
“If you asked the board was there a formal vote (on approving the lockout) no – I can’t lie to you,” Fournier said later.
He stopped short of calling the lockout a mistake but added: “If we had to re-live the whole thing, we would surely call for a formal vote before a lockout.”
Fournier has previously said the board would have appreciated more information from management before the lockout began.

Mary Lou Finlay to retire from CBC
Mary Lou Finlay, host of As It Happens and one of Canada’s best-known journalists, is retiring from the CBC.
Finlay, who has been with As It Happens for eight years, says she wants a change from the intensity of a daily program. She plans to continue working on her own projects.
“It’s just the right time for me, even though it will be hard to leave. I’ve never loved a job more,” she said in announcing her retirement on Thursday.
“As It Happens is a great program. The people I work with are smart, funny and committed, and so is our audience. But hosting this show demands a huge amount of energy. At this stage of my life, I need to make more room for other projects I’m interested in.”
She first came to national attention in 1975, as co-host of CBC Television’s Take 30. She hosted her own program, Finlay and Company, in 1976 and 1977, and then moved to CTV in 1978 to co-host and produce the award-winning lifestyle program Live It Up.
In 1981 she returned to CBC, joining Barbara Frum as co-host of CBC Television’s nightly current affairs program The Journal. She produced documentaries and special reports for The Journal until 1988.
From 1988 to 1994, Finlay was host of Sunday Morning on CBC Radio. She hosted the weekly media watchdog program Now The Details from 1994 to 1997, and then became co-host of As It Happens.
“At As It Happens I have spoken to thousands of people and it’s so wonderful to be able to do that and to have these wonderful people around me to work with,” Finlay told CBC Arts Online.
Canadians will remember her interviews with a wide range of political and cultural figures including Timothy Findley and Ren√à L√àvesque. She has brought her journalistic skill to such stories as the end of martial law in Poland, the fall of the Berlin Wall and Canada’s struggle with Quebec’s pursuit of sovereignty.
Finlay says she has hundreds of cherished memories of her career, from doing her first interviews to travelling on the job to joining the As It Happens crew.
“I have really loved travelling Canada, especially my three trips to the Arctic,” she said. “You feel very privileged to travel in the Arctic.”
Finlay was recipient of the Martin Wise Goodman Canadian Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University.
Finlay retires Nov. 30. Although she will no longer be the regular voice on As It Happens, she plans to continue to contribute to CBC Radio on a freelance basis.

CBC employees accept tentative deal
TORONTO (CP) – After seven acrimonious weeks of negotiations and feuding, the CBC labour dispute is officially over. But the fighting may not be.
The Canadian Media Guild said Sunday that 88.4 per cent of the 3,514 members who voted chose to accept the proposed contract.
But it will take a few days before programming is back to normal and the union warns workers may not be all smiles when the cameras and microphones are off.
Most of the CBC’s 5,500 unionized workers are expected back at work Tuesday but it’ll take days, in some cases even weeks, to get everything back up to speed.
“The National will be back by Tuesday or Wednesday,” said Jason MacDonald, spokesman for the CBC.
“From a radio point of view, Tuesday we’ll have the morning show broadcast nationally out of Montreal, and the drive-home show will be out of Toronto. By Wednesday, some of the regional shows will be back and by Thursday, everybody will be back.”
Don Cherry, Ron MacLean and other familiar CBC faces already made their return to TV on Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada and the network was to air a CFL doubleheader on Monday.
Union spokesman Arnold Amber said workers are happy to be back on the job but haven’t necessarily gotten over their built-up anger.
“Personally, I think CBC management has a very, very large task to get people back onside. This was a very, very difficult issue,” he said.
“It’s going to take some time to get everything right side up. They were really offended by being locked out, they regarded it as a great injustice,” Amber said.
MacDonald acknowledged the mood might be icy at times but said he thinks everyone will pull together to get the CBC back up and running.
“Nobody would deny (there may be) strain between employees and managers but everyone’s a professional, I think. And most people just want to get back to work,” he said.
“It may be a bit uncomfortable at first but I think people just want to get back.”
Suanne Kelman, associate chair of journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto, said the worst thing the CBC can do is dwell on the lockout in any way.
“They have to remember their problems are not the public’s problems, there should be nothing about the lockout when they get back, they should just get back to programming as soon as possible,” she said.
MacDonald said there is no specific directive from management to not mention the lockout on the air.
“If an individual host comes back on the air this week and mentions it, that’s up to their discretion and their producers. Nobody’s being given an order to say or not say anything about it,” he said.
Amber also said he can’t imagine CBC workers trying to bring too much attention to the lockout.
“Quite obviously, people are going to say, ‘Well, we’re back,’ and make note of the fact that the labour dispute is over. However, I don’t think anybody is going to break our professional approach to broadcasting and go into a personal song and dance about what this all meant.”
It’s still unclear exactly where public sympathy lies and the CBC will have to figure out if their audiences left for the competition or became fed up with the prolonged labour dispute, which began Aug. 15.
Kelman said other broadcasters made great use of the CBC’s programming lag to boost their profile among the CBC’s audience.
“For news, they may have some problems because I think some people may have discovered CTV news is better than they remembered,” she said. “It depends on how betrayed viewers and listeners feel.”
She said some may be completely unsympathetic to the CBC cause and hold a grudge long into the future.
“Because people feel it’s their own tax dollars involved, I think it’s going to take a while before this one fades.” The official tally in the ratification vote was 3,106 votes for, 394 against and 14 ballots were either spoiled, or challenged and not accepted.
The labour dispute centred on a CBC plan to hire more contract workers, which the union opposed. The deal caps contract workers at 9.5 per cent of the full-time work force.
CBC wages are to rise by 12.6 per cent over the life of the contract, which runs through March 31, 2009, including full retroactivity and a $1,000 signing bonus.

(la version franÁaise suit le texte anglais)
October 9, 2005
New collective agreement ratified by 88.4% of voters
Members of the Canadian Media Guild have voted 88.4% in favour of ratification of the new collective agreement.
A total of 3514 Guild members from across the country cast ballots; of those, 3106 voted yes; 394 voted against the deal. 14 other ballots were either spoiled or challenged and not accepted.
The ratification officially puts an end to the lockout which began nearly two months ago.
“This kind of support shows that the membership believes we’ve succeeded in pushing the CBC back from its demand to de-stabilize our workforce. We have established that the CBC will use permanent employees for its ongoing activities,” says the Guild’s CBC Branch president Arnold Amber.
Amber adds: “Many people have talked about how the events of the past eight weeks have helped bring Guild members together in a new way. I think that’s reflected in the high voter turnout.”
The majority of Guild members will be returning to work as of Tuesday, October 11. It is expected to be several days before CBC programming returns to normal.
Oe 9 octobre 2005
La nouvelle convention collective est ratifiÈe par 88,4% des Èlecteurs
Les membres de la Guilde canadienne des m√àdias ont ratifi√à l’entente de principe conclue lundi dernier. Quelques 88,4 pour cent des √àlecteurs ont accept√à l’entente.
En tout, 3 514 membres de la Guilde ont vote; 3 106 ont votÈ pour ratifier la convention, tandis que 394 ont votÈ contre. 14 bulletins ont ÈtÈ rejetÈs ou estimÈs nuls.
La ratification reprÈsente la fin officielle du cadenas qui a commencÈ il y a presque deux mois.
¬¥ Cet appui d√àmontre que les membres croient que nous avons r√àussi ‚Ä° faire reculer la Soci√àt√à de sa demande de d√àstabiliser nos membres. Nous avons ent√àrin√à l’id√àe que la Soci√àt√à utilisera des employ√às permanents pour effectuer le travail r√àgulier, ¬™ dit le pr√àsident de la sous-section SRC/CBC de la Guilde, Arnold Amber.
Il renchÈrit : ´ Plusieurs ont remarquÈ que les ÈvÈnements des huit derniËres semaines ont crÈÈ un nouveau sentiment de solidaritÈ au sein des membres de la Guilde. Je pense que le taux de participation ÈlevÈ reflËte cette rÈalitÈ. ª
La plupart des membres de la Guilde retourneront au travail ‡ compter du mardi 11 octobre, mais quelques jours passeront avant que la programmation de la SociÈtÈ retourne ‡ la normale.

Tentative deal must be ratified before CBC programming returns to normal
TORONTO (CP) – Although CBC and its workers have finally reached common ground in their contract dispute, it will be a while before things return to normal and all the familiar voices and faces – including chief anchor Peter Mansbridge – are back on the air.
“What has to happen is that the union members would have to vote on the agreement,” said CBC spokesman Jason MacDonald. “Assuming that they do vote in favour of it, we would then be in a position to bring people back to work as quickly as possible.”
About 5,500 employees were locked out Aug. 15, and the public broadcaster filled radio and television airtime with re-runs and managers reading the news. Portions of the fall schedule were delayed, including the broadcast of a Trudeau miniseries.
A memorandum of agreement was reached early Monday and negotiators continued to hammer out a back-to-work protocol.
If a vote is affirmative, MacDonald said workers would be phased in over a few days.
“We would like to have people back to work and our regular schedule up by the end of next week,” he said Monday.
Many of the new shows CBC was touting were scheduled to debut in mid-season anyway, including Mary Walsh’s six-episode comedy Hatching, Matching and Dispatching, and a series from Ken Finkleman about the inhabitants of a strange hotel.
Canadian Media Guild negotiator Arnold Amber indicated it takes time to get schedulers and assignment desks up and running.
“There are literally a whole number of people that will have to go back as soon as possible to prepare the groundwork for the rest of the people to return,” he said.

CBC, staff reach tentative deal
OTTAWA (CP) – A memorandum of agreement was reached early Monday between the CBC and more than 5,000 employees who have been locked out for seven weeks.
The basic concepts behind a tentative agreement were reached late Sunday under the supervision of federal mediators, but both sides will continue to work out the details and language of the deal, said Canadian Media Guild spokesman Arnold Amber. While the agreement will be signed Monday, it was not immediately clear when the CBC workers would return to work because both sides must still work out a return-to-work protocol.
In a statement released late Sunday, the union said picket lines were still in effect until further notice.
The Crown corporation locked out some 5,500 unionized employees seven weeks ago in a contract dispute that centred on a CBC plan to hire more contract workers, a move the union says would destroy job security.
“The most important thing about the tentative agreement – there’s a cap of 9.5 per cent of contract workers compared to full-time staff employees,” Amber said.
“That’s the issue that we went out on, that we were kicked out on, locked out on.”
Labour Minister Joe Fontana asked both sides to move negotiations from Toronto to Ottawa last week as political pressure mounted on the Liberal government to find a solution.
Discussions have been gong on under the supervision of Elizabeth MacPherson, head of the federal mediation and conciliation service, close to Fontana’s office in Gatineau, Que.
“Canadians want their national public broadcaster back,” CBC’s president and CEO Robert Rabinovitch said in a statement early Monday.
“The last seven weeks have been difficult for all involved but we now have an agreement that equips us to serve Canadians as a public broadcaster should.
The breakthrough came close to a deadline on a news blackout, Amber said. The deadline had been extended several times as talks continued over the weekend.
“One of the mediators came up with a solution that led to the development of this cap process at 9.5 (per cent),” he said. “So that was . . . one of the turning points in the conversation.”
The lockout resulted in cancelled newscasts, Canadian Football League games without announcers and complaints from areas of the country where the CBC was the only service available.
The agreement was announced two days before the National Hockey League season begins.
Under the tentative agreement, wages will increase by 12.6 per cent over the life of the contract to March 31, 2009, the union said. There would also be full retroactivity for all employees on the payroll prior to the lockout – including contract and temporary workers – and a $1,000 signing bonus, it added.
Amber said discussions on the back-to-work protocol would begin Monday and will work out the details sometime this week.
The agreement will then be taken to CBC employees for ratification, he added.
“There is a lot of resentment about what happened, but one hopes that there’ll be efforts made on both sides,” he said.
The upcoming NHL season – set to start on Wednesday – may have been an impetus behind the agreement, a season eagerly awaited after the league locked out its players last year.
In late September, the CBC announced it would broadcast 60 regular-season contests regardless of the lockout, which included on-air sports staff. Its first scheduled broadcast was scheduled for Saturday.
The corporation had been forced to broadcast CFL games without commentators and audio provided through public-address announcements.
The bitter dispute also saw Liberal MPs jumping into the fray, prompting some to suggest that the federal government re-examine the Crown corporation’s right to lock out employees in the future. That would mean either changing labour laws or re-examining the mandate of Crown corporations.
Various unionized CBC groups have been locked out three times in the past five years.
Backbenchers also complained that due to the lockout, many Canadians were not getting the public service they deserved, particularly those living in rural areas.
Fontana congratulated the two sides and the federal mediators early Monday.
“This is great news for the Canadian people, who have been voicing their concern over the length of this dispute,” he said.

We have an agreement in principle!
We are very pleased to report that the Canadian Media Guild and CBC management have reached an agreement in principle that will form the basis for a new, fair collective agreement.
We still have work to do. A committee will be formed to write the remaining contract language to form a tentative agreement for ratification.
The next phase of negotiations is to work out a return to work protocol. Weíll get back to you with more details as quickly as we can. Until further notice, picket lines will remain in effect.
Here are some initial highlights of the deal:
ï we have a strong commitment to permanent staff as the standard for employment at the CBC.
ï We have improved rights for contract and temporary employees.
ï Wages will increase by 12.6 percent over the life of the contract to March 31, 2009. There will be full retroactivity for all employees on the payroll prior to the lockout, including contract and temporary employees. There will also be a $1000 signing bonus.
And for the first time for our members in the Northern Service, there will be an interpretersí premium of $800.00 per year for those who are required to work in more than one language.
We would like to thank everyone for their resolve and support. We will be meeting the minister of labour tomorrow morning and will continue the rest of the work for a tentative agreement.
Weíll get more details to you as soon as possible.

CBC TABLED A SETTLEMENT OFFER WITH SIGNIFICANT COMPROMISES IN EFFORT TO END LABOUR DISRUPTION
On Wednesday, CBC tabled a settlement offer on the outstanding issues to the CMG. It contains significant compromise on the key issues in an effort to end the current labour disruption and conclude a collective agreement.
We understand the impact that the current labour dispute has had on our audiences, our staff, our managers and our partners across the country. We want to get our services back on-air and online immediately.
To that end, we believe our offer is a significant compromise and addresses the concerns voiced by the CMG and our employees over the course of these negotiations. Our offer includes considerable movement on the key issues ñ Contract Employees and Workforce Adjustment. It also includes further standardization of hours of work and improved overtime provisions for some employees, continuation of the long service gratuity for current permanent employees, implementation of Job Evaluation and a generous monetary package for employees in addition to numerous positive developments that have been negotiated.
We have been bargaining now for 16 months. Itís time to resolve our differences at the bargaining table so we can get back to doing the work we do best Рcreating outstanding public broadcasting for Canadians.
Here are the highlights of the CBC’s proposal:
SEPTEMBER 28 SETTLEMENT OFFER HIGHLIGHTS
Wages – Increases for employees will include:
Upon Ratification – 3.0% increase
Upon Ratification – A pensionable lump-sum payment equivalent to 3.5 percent of base earnings for all time worked between April 1, 2004 and date of ratification
January 9, 2006 – Implementation of new job evaluation pay scales and job evaluation retroactivity
April 1, 2006 – 2.0 percent general wage increase
April 1, 2007 – 2.5 percent general wage increase
April 1, 2008 – 2.5 percent general wage increase
Restriction of Total Number of Contract Employees
CBC has offered to restrict the total number of contract positions to a maximum of 90 additional contract positions per year. Our commitment that no current permanent employee will be required to revert to or accept contract status as a result of this proposal continues.
Full Pension Eligibility for Contract Employees
Full pension (after two years of service) for contract employees on par with permanent full time employees and the ability for existing contract employees to retroactively buy back eligible service if they opt to join the pension plan. For contract employees who choose not to join the pension plan, they will continue to receive payment in lieu so they can plan for their own retirement.
Full Severance Benefits and Greater Notice Period for Contract Employees
Employees on contract for a year or greater will receive severance benefits equal to current permanent employees and improved notification of renewal/non-renewal of their contract.
Same Benefits as Permanent Staff for Contract Employees and Temporary Employees
Contract and temporary employees will receive the same benefits as permanent full time employees.
Cross-Component Bumping in Some Situations
As in our previous offers, we reiterated that employees must possess the demonstrated occupational qualifications to do a job before they re-deploy into that position. However, the Corporation has agreed to allow cross component bumping (i.e between radio and television) when an employee has worked at least 6 of the last 12 months in an equivalent position in the other component. This is a significant improvement for employees in the current Unit 1 bargaining unit who cannot move between components today.
Other improvements for employees in the Corporationís offers
More Standardized Hours of Work and Improved Overtime Provisions
The Corporation has proposed that the regular work week for all employees currently in the Unit 1 and Unit 2 bargaining units will be 38 æ hours per week (exluding self-assigned employees). In addition, overtime will now be paid after 7.75 hours for daily assigned employees and 38.75 hours for weekly assigned employees, which represents an improvement for many employees. Employees in the current Unit 3 bargaining unit will continue to work their 36.25 hour workweek.
Long-Service Gratuity
The Corporation has proposed that all current permanent employees who enjoy the benefit of the long-service gratuity will continue to do so under the same terms and conditions as they do today.
Over Seventeen Million Dollars In Job Evaluation Payments
After a considerable amount of time spent working in collaboration with the union formulating a job evaluation plan, defining and rating jobs to ensure “equal pay for work of equal value”, CBC has committed to increase its CMG payroll by $2.4 million and to provide a total of $15 million in retroactive payments to employees in the bargaining unit upon implementation of Job Evaluation on January 9, 2006. Additionally, employees red-circled as a result of Job Evaluation will have their salary protected and will be entitled to a lump sum payment equal to the full amount of a general wage increase.
The payments for job evaluation retroactivity will be paid as follows:
All current employees in the bargaining unit will receive a lump sum payment in recognition of the rationalization of pay scales. A total of $4.5 million will be paid to these employees.
In addition, employees in the bargaining unit whose jobs have increased in value as a result of Job Evaluation will receive an additional lump sum payment.
A total of $10 million will be paid to these employees.
A total of $500,000 will be paid to bargaining unit employees who have retired since the commencement of Job Evaluation.
A commitment that CBCís current permanent employees will continue to be permanent and will continue to have a wide range of career opportunities.
Rather than just communicate this to you, we will also include this as our commitment in collective agreement language.
Numerous work-life balance initiatives such as leaves of absence and alternative work arrangements, and deferred salary leave.
Other positive developments for CBC employees:
– including deferred salary leave,
– alternate work arrangements,
– a simplified dispute resolution and grievance process,
– a process to ensure Respect in the Workplace, streamlined probation arrangements and job evaluation implementation.

CBC, union meet labour minister, continue talks in Ottawa area
The CBC and its largest union have agreed to continue talks to find a solution to their labour dispute after meeting with the federal labour minister.
Joe Fontana urged CBC management and leaders of the broadcaster’s largest union to find a solution to the disruption now in its seventh week.
Fontana told negotiating teams in Gatineau, Que. – just across the Ottawa River from Ottawa – that the “current situation is unacceptable.”
Senior representatives present at the meeting included Arnold Amber, president of the Canada Media Guild branch representing CBC workers and CBC president Robert Rabinovitch.
The Guild represents 5,500 employees – including journalists, technicians and other staff – that the CBC locked out on Aug. 15, after more than a year of negotiations.
Since then, managers have provided reduced coverage on the CBC’s radio, TV and web services. The lockout affects all CBC centres except those in the province of Quebec and Moncton, N.B.
In a communiqu√à Friday, Amber said, “We need some assistance to get the contract done and we need the right people in the room. If the main decision-makers from CBC senior management are there, this thing could be settled within five days after Monday.” Following Monday’s meeting, CBC released a statement that it “welcomes efforts to move negotiations with CMG to a conclusion.”
Fontana commented that “Both parties have demonstrated a willingness to resolve this dispute. They have agreed, at my invitation, to remain in the building and resume negotiations on the remaining issues – I will be meeting jointly with the parties later today to get a status of their talks.”
Mediator Elizabeth MacPherson, the head of the Federal Mediation Conciliation Service, will assist the union and the CBC in their deliberations.
While the talks were going on, about 500 CBC workers from Toronto, Sudbury and Ottawa rallied outside Parliament as MPs returned from summer break.