How often in life do you go from doing your regular job at, say, CBC, and then all of a sudden find yourself administering payroll, ordering signs, meeting politicians and organizing concerts ? sometimes all in a single day.
This is an open letter of thanks to all of you CMG location presidents and lockout leaders at the CBC. Your round-the-clock ingenuity and patience, not to mention dedication, were the backbone of our lockout success.
We always knew we were in for a battle with the CBC. But for whatever reason, most of us thought common sense would prevail. Midnight on August 15 was for me, and many of you, a complete shock. I’ll never forget standing there watching fellow members being escorted out by security at 12:01 into the summer breeze on John Street in Toronto. A local radio show called me at that moment and I remember doing what amounted to a “play by play” live of people being locked out.
At that same moment, instead of panicking (a natural inclination under the circumstances) you folks stepped into action. You guided CMG members from coast to coast. You explained lockout pay and tracked hours, even though you had only learned of these things days earlier. Some of you had been there before (say in 1999 and 2001) and you guided us through those early hours. You knew how to order picket signs. You knew that the flimsy signs used in Toronto would not do on either coast, where rain is a constant factor. You knew rules about picketing and how to deal with police.
At the same time, you all had to guide people through the psychological ups and downs of being locked out. You had to be inspirational, compassionate and knowledgeable, too. And you were able to help harness anger and creative energy to encourage great actions from our members.
The great actions of this lockout may well become part of labour history in this country. Putting picket signs upside down and gently tapping them as the new Governor-General, a former locked-out SRC employee herself, arrived for her installation ceremony?after hours of last-minute negotiations averted what would have been a much different story. The “Walk Around the Block with a CBC Celebrity” in Vancouver to the “Silenced” campaign in Toronto to the “Step Out for Stephenville” event to raise money for flood victims in Newfoundland?it all had such impact. It was about connecting to our community: the Canadian public who long to be informed, entertained and connected to one another. During the lockout, we took over the CBC’s mandate to do all that.
A special word of thanks and appreciation also goes to those who really had to do this lockout alone: a lone VJ in Welland Ontario (Mark Chambers), for example, made headlines in the local paper after organizing community events and protests with other unions and groups. There were poignant displays of strength in far away places. None of us will ever forget Adrienne Arsenault or Paul Workman.
Below is a list of people who led our response to the lockout in cities across Canada. With them were dozens of others who worked tirelessly. But the people below were the point people and, on behalf of all Guild members everywhere, I thank all of you for your leadership and strength.
With great appreciation and solidarity,
Lise Lareau
CMG National President
LOCKOUT LEADERS:
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Kelowna & Nelson
David French
Prince George
James Evans
Prince Rupert
Ian Giesbrecht
BC Transmitters
Eric Mets
CALGARY
Michael Arnault
Donna Giroux
CHARLOTTETOWN
Barry Vessey
Sally Pitt
CORNERBROOK
Garry Parsons
Brian McHugh
EDMONTON
Guy Moquin
Steve Finkelman
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS
Neil MacDonald
FREDERICTON
Donald Dickson
Kevin Shaw
GANDER/GRANDFALLS
Randy Larcombe
Harry Mesh
Kelly Bragg
HALIFAX
Brian Nordlund
Sue Cooper
HAPPY VALLEY/GOOSE BAY
Theresa Blackburn
IQALUIT
Fiona Christensen
LONDON
Kerry McKee
NORTHERN NEW BRUNSWICK
Bernard Lebel
OTTAWA
Marc-Philippe Laurin
Chantal Payant
RANKIN INLET
Joanne Stassen
REGINA
Guy Michaud
Kenn Sunley
Luc Lemoine
SACKVILLE
Paul Dugas
Maurice Doiron
SAINT JOHN
Elaine Bateman
Steven Webb
SASKATOON
Gaynette Spafford
ST. JOHN’S
Bob Sharpe
Debbie Hussey
SUDBURY
Ken Kauffeldt
Markus Schwabe
SYDNEY
Wendy Martin
THUNDERBAY
Gerald Graham
TORONTO
Datejie Green
Terry Walker
Brenda Percy
VANCOUVER
Pierre Claveau
Rob Weber
Joe Holman
VICTORIA
Jeff Weaver
Sue Elrington
WHITEHORSE
Russell Knutson
Karen Vallevand
WINDSOR
C?line Pelletier
Herb Colling
WINNIPEG
John Webb
Ron Friesen
YELLOWKNIFE
David Miller
Allen Gofenko
Marie Pedersen