Last week, Canwest Media gave layoff notices to a number of employees at operations across Canada. Among the positions to be eliminated are four within the Canadian Media Guild’s bargaining unit at the former Alliance Atlantis Communications; those employees will be laid off as of mid-April.

There had been no previous indication that the new owner was going to change staffing so soon after the takeover of Alliance Atlantis’s broadcasting operations. We had hoped that Canwest would take the time to look at all of AAC’s assets – most notably its hard-working and extremely competent staff – before moving ahead with staffing changes.

During the notice period, Guild representatives will be meeting with the company to ensure that the rights of the affected members are respected, and to try to reduce the number of people going out the door. If any of the four end up being laid off, they will receive no less than the severance benefits set out in the new collective agreement: three weeks of salary per year of service for any employee with more than two years’ service, and two weeks per year for employees with less than two full years of service. They may also be recalled to work if new positions come available within the year following layoff.

For more information please contact branch president Masaaba Mwambu at mmwambu@canwest.com or CMG staff representative Keith Maskell at keith@cmg.ca .