A lot is happening right now at The Canadian Press and it’s time to bring members up to date.
Pagemasters North America ? The Canadian Press is moving forward with its newest subsidiary and the Guild is committed to representing our newest employees.
Restructuring The Canadian Press ? We’ve been told only that talks are continuing with potential new investors. We are getting more information to ensure we can protect our stake in the new Canadian Press.
Bargaining ? The contract expires at the end of the year and negotiations will likely begin in January and then break for the Olympics.
Pagemasters
Managers have been hired to run the new operation and you all know the Toronto Star appears to be client No. 1 on what could be a long list. This is good for The Canadian Press and we are working to ensure we represent all new employees in what could be a major part of our company in the future. You will hear more as we take steps to assert our rights to bargain for our newest members. We want to ensure they are treated fairly and have good representation under our Branch of The Canadian Media Guild.
Restructuring
We had hoped to have more to say about this by now. But talks are continuing and we have no reason to be concerned the delay means lack of interest. We know The Canadian Press is a great business and has a great future. We also have a major stake in that business, thanks to $5 million in forgone pension contributions we have put on the table, so we are getting the information we need to protect our stake. We expect to have more to say about this early in the New Year.
Bargaining
A bargaining committee has been selected by the Branch Council: Terry Pedwell, Sylvia Strojek, Fareed Mohammed, Scott Edmonds and staff representative Kathy Viner. Because the upcoming round of negotiations could be difficult, very active members and those with considerable experience were chosen. It will be meeting in December prior to starting talks with The Canadian Press in January. We have received valuable input from some locations and are expecting more as meetings continue across the country. We know these are challenging times but it’s important to recognize the contributions employees make every day to keep The Canadian Press “Canada’s trusted news leader.”
If you want more information or want to comment anything here, contact your Location Unit president or Branch President Terry Pedwell.