After lengthy discussion, the Canadian Media Guild and the Corporation have agreed on a new dispute resolution and grievance process. It aims to put more emphasis at the local level, to reduce friction and to enhance the ability of union and management to settle problems. The new process will replace the local grievance procedure but will not prevent any issue that cannot be resolved locally from going to the National Grievance Committee.

We also continued to exchange language on harassment at work. The Guild recently completed an extensive survey that revealed a disturbing picture of increased incidents of harassment and bullying in our members’ workplaces. Click here for summary. Other studies, including the Guild’s own, show that personal harassment at work is far more prevalent than sexual or discriminatory harassment.

The pace of negotiations continues to be extremely slow. Not only is this round of contract talks bringing together three collective agreements, but we are also attempting to write new language to address the changing nature of our work. There are currently more than seventy pieces of language in play at the table and some very difficult issues ahead. We are committed to getting the best possible deal for our members and to taking whatever time is needed to achieve that.

We will be meeting again the weeks of February 21, March 7, March 28 and three consecutive weeks in April.

Your bargaining committee:
Arnold Amber, Toronto
Pierre Claveau, Vancouver
Brendan Elliott, Charlottetown
Percy Hatfield, Windsor
Joe Hill, Toronto
Wendy Hunt, Toronto
Gerry Jones, Regina
Barbara Saxberg, Toronto
Lee Siemon, Toronto
Chris Turner, Fredericton
Rick Warren, Vancouver
Dan Oldfield, Senior Staff Representative, CMG