The Canadian Media Guild has served notice to MBS Radio management that members in Saint John will strike at 8:00 am on Monday June 25 if no agreement is reached before then.
“When we met with the company earlier this week, there was no evidence they are prepared to negotiate a fair agreement,” says Gary Stackhouse, president of the Guild at MBS Radio in Saint John. “We have been at this for nearly a year. We’re tired of crawling. It’s time for us to stand up and walk.”
Employees at Big John, K-100 and CFBC have gone 12 years without an across-the-board wage increase. Some of the employees hired in recent years are earning as much as one-third less than the people who did the jobs before them. Most of the employees earn little more than minimum wage, particularly when unpaid overtime work is factored in. The stations make money; the Halifax-based company takes more than $1 million in profit in a year. The employees voted to form a union a year ago and have been trying to negotiate a first contract.
“We remain ready to bargain a fair deal at any time but we’re not prepared to wait forever for management to meet us half way,” says Dan Oldfield, CMG’s senior staff representative.
“The 6,000 members of the Canadian Media Guild across Canada are behind our colleagues at MBS in Saint John,” says Carmel Smyth, CMG national president. “CMG units at other workplaces have begun to send donations to the Saint John unit. This is a fight for respect for the work our members do and the value they bring the company and the community.”
You can find more information here, or get in touch with the Guild (info@cmg.ca) at 1-800-465-4149.