Following the cut announced in last week’s federal budget, we expect CBC management to advise the Guild of job reductions in the coming days. Here are some things for Guild members to remember:

– Timing: management must give the Guild at least eight weeks’ notice of reductions to permanent jobs. We have not yet received any notice. A permanent employee in a job slated to be cut will receive a “redundancy notice” no less than six weeks before their job is eliminated. A process of reassignment and redeployment then begins in partnership with management and the union.

– CBC will reassign employees to vacant positions before issuing redundancy notices.

– Contract employees can be given notice that their contracts will not be renewed. Notice is 30 days for contract employees with less than one year of service; 60 days for between 1 and 4 years of service; and 90 days for more than four years. At non-renewal, contract employees receive one week of salary for every six months of service. Ask your manager for a letter of reference.

– Temporary employees who have a set term must be given two weeks of notice if they are to be released before the end of their term. If you are considered a “per-occasion temporary,” you may be told that your services are no longer needed. Ask your manager for a letter of reference.

– If you receive a redundancy notice, that does *not* mean you are fired. You should make sure your resume is updated so you can provide it to the local joint union-management committee that oversees the redeployment process. The union and management will work together to place people into suitable jobs, according to seniority, and to try to avoid as many involuntary layoffs as possible.

– “Bumping” rights ensure that management can’t pick and choose who will get laid off when redeployment of permanent employees to vacant jobs is not possible. Seniority and ability to do the job govern the bumping process, which is overseen by the joint committee. You can read Article 46 of the collective agreement for more information.

Once we have more information about CBC management’s plans, we will provide more details about the process and the timelines. As difficult as this situation is for everyone, the last time we had to deal with a major downsizing – in 2009 – members’ rights were respected and there were no disputes between the Guild and management. We have every reason to expect the same this year.