Lawyers for CBC management have sent a letter threatening disciplinary action and a grievance against the union representing CBC/Radio-Canada reporters in Quebec and Moncton. The union, SCRC, passed a resolution this weekend asking its members to refuse to do work that would normally be done by locked-out members of the Canadian Media Guild.

During the 30-day lockout, CBC/SRC members in Quebec and Moncton have been assigned to work in the Guild’s jurisdiction. In many cases, our colleagues have refused the assigments. In other cases, they have respected our picket lines. Now, they are being threatened with discipline if they refuse to help support the management-imposed lockout.

CBC/SRC employees in Quebec and Moncton are under no obligation to do our work during the lockout. The Guild’s bargaining certificate covers CBC employees working outside of Quebec and Moncton. The Guild has exclusive jurisdiction over this work and, because of the lockout, there is no collective agreement provision in force to allow CBC management to assign this work to employees from other bargaining units.

“The reality of the lockout is that it is depriving French-speaking Canadians outside Quebec and Moncton of the local programs and news coverage that they count on from Radio-Canada,” says Guild president Lise Lareau. “It is a national disgrace.

“However, that programming cannot be replaced by assigning a few people from Quebec and Moncton to cover selective issues in the rest of Canada. It can only be restored by a fair collective agreement that allows the hundreds of men and women devoted to creating and delivering programming for Canada’s francophone communities to return to work.”

The lockout is also depriving English-speaking Canadians of their national public broadcaster. That programming void at CBC can also not be filled by assigning some employees from Quebec and Moncton to cover major events in the rest of Canada.

Threatening Guild colleagues in Quebec and Moncton does nothing to foster constructive negotiations. If CBC management wants to cover news outside Quebec and Moncton, it should focus on bargaining a fair collective agreement and allow Guild members to go back to work.

For more information, please contact the Guild (guild@interlog.com) at 416-591-5333 or 1-800-465-4149.