Last week, the Guild and CP management met on a conference call to discuss the conversion of some part-time employees to full-time status. This is meant to deal with a number of part-timers who have in fact been working on a full-time basis. We presented approximately a dozen names for consideration. The Canadian Press has agreed to look at these cases and will respond within a few weeks. The Guild has reserved its right to file grievances if we believe that part-time positions are being used to avoid the engagement of full-time staffers.

Over the next few weeks, managers will also be holding one-on-one meetings with each of their part-time employees. The goal of these meetings is to establish a basic number of hours that the employee will work each pay period, and also to get a better idea of the employee’s goals and availability. While we know that some part-time employees would like to get more shifts, or possibly move to full-time employment, others are content with the scheduling setup they have. In the last round of collective bargaining, we mandated these meetings to make sure that these kinds of conversations between employees and their managers happen to avoid or lessen misunderstandings and the hard feelings that can result.

If you have any questions, please speak to the president of your Guild location unit, or e-mail me at keith@cmg.ca. And enjoy your summer.

Keith Maskell
CMG Staff Representative