The Canadian Media Guild has learned that the board of directors of the CBC will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday in Montreal. The location of the meeting has been kept secret.
The CMG, which represents the 5,500 CBC employees who have been locked out since August 15, is urging the board to intervene to ensure a negotiated settlement as soon as possible to end the lockout that has crippled the public broadcaster.
“It is time for the board to weigh in and provide a sober second thought to the aggressive and destructive strategy adopted by CBC’s senior management team,” says CMG national president Lise Lareau.
“Unfortunately, we believe members of the board have received limited information from senior management and have even been told not to speak to the union. I also received a letter from the lawyers for CBC management warning me to stay away from board members.
“Given the crisis that the CBC is in because of the six-week-old lockout, a well-informed board is needed now more than ever to ask some tough questions. That is their duty to the Canadian public.”
The CMG has requested to speak at the board meeting to offer our perspective.
CBC management imposed the lockout in order to extract major concessions from employees, including the ability to hire most new employees on temporary contracts.
“That demand in no way represents the standard among broadcasters in Canada,” says Arnold Amber, president of the union’s CBC branch and a member of the negotiating committee. “In fact, we know from our colleagues in the private sector that the CBC already has a higher proportion of temporary employees than CTV, Global and the CHUM group.”
For more information, please contact the Guild ([email protected]) at 416-591-5333 or 1-800-465-4149.