Toronto-based broadcaster S-VOX, which operates VisionTV as well as The Christian Channel and one: the Body, Mind and Spirit Channel, gave notices of redundancy to four employees on Thursday.

The Guild has identified problems with how the layoffs were handled. Most troubling is that new positions are being created at the same time as employees are being let go. Normally we would expect a full discussion in joint committee to determine whether it would be possible to reduce the number of positions being cut by re-deploying existing employees into one or more of the new positions.

“We will be requesting an urgent meeting with S-VOX management to clear up this issue. We may find ourselves in the position of having to test the language of our first collective agreement barely six months after it was signed,” says Guild staff representative Keith Maskell. The Guild will also be pushing for more information about the company’s plans, particularly in light of S-VOX’s recently-announced purchase of two television stations in western Canada.

We are hoping to hold a general membership meeting early next week to discuss issues and to introduce your new branch executive. Stay tuned for more details.

For more information, contact Keith Maskell at keith@cmg.ca