2025 will undoubtedly be an eventful year for us at CBC/Radio-Canada… Our new CBC/Radio-Canada CEO is in place, and we’re all but assured there will be a federal election. Talk of mandate changes and defunding are swirling but have not crystalized, and American threats underline the need for a strong Canadian public broadcaster.
Our best defence is to continue to do good work! Let’s show how valuable CBC/Radio-Canada is as a Canadian democratic institution that provides balanced, original and local stories from coast to coast to coast. CMG leaders have been busy in the past several months preparing to help protect CBC/Radio-Canada by building alliances and promoting the importance of quality journalism that is available to all Canadians. We have also been putting our heads together in a Defend CBC/Radio-Canada Working Group; please fill in this form if you would like to join.
CMG Convention will take place May 26-29, 2025 in Toronto. It’s our biennial opportunity for members to direct the union on its affairs. Watch for emails in the next few months on becoming a delegate, and bylaw amendment and resolution submissions. We encourage you to scrutinize proposals when they are shared with all members in April and let your local delegates know your views. Convention delegate allocations are outlined here.
Pension Surplus payments from 2023 are expected to be paid out this year, once OSFI (Office of Superintendent of Financial Institutions) requirements have been met. We should also know very soon if our pension plan continued to be in surplus for 2024.
Updated health benefits are being negotiated with all four CBC/Radio-Canada unions and management, and we hope to announce changes in the next few months. Our members of the CCSB (Consultative Committee on Staff Benefits) are seeking improvements without a huge cost increase, to keep our plan sustainable. In the meantime, social worker coverage for mental health supports not currently part of our base plan has been extended until June 30, 2025.
2024-2027 Collective Agreements in both French & English will be posted on cmg.ca in the next month or so. Our commitment that the entire document has gender neutral language has meant that all ~400 pages be re-written, in both languages. This year, in an effort to reduce waste, if you would like a paper copy of the collective agreement, we ask you to please fill in this form.
Personal phones now CANNOT access CBC/Radio-Canada Gmail or G-Chat without software that enforces corporate policy on your own devices. You should know this means the Corporation would have the ability to wipe your phone of personal data, not just CBC/Radio-Canada information. For example, if you have CBC/Radio-Canada Gmail enabled on your phone, and you get your passcode wrong 10 times, ALL data on your phone is wiped. The software can also give management the ability to see and restrict the apps you have installed on your phone, including ones unrelated to work.
We encourage you to request a separate CBC/Radio-Canada owned device if having access to CBC/Radio-Canada emails and chats while away from your desk is important to your work. CBC/Radio-Canada management has said there will be no way to read CBC/Radio-Canada emails on any cell phone without installing their software. If management refuses your request for a mobile device, please keep track of when you asked and what reasons you provided and get in touch with the union. Because management is removing mobile access to email, if you must stay at your desk for a longer period of time to wait for time-sensitive emails or chats, be sure to ask for the overtime needed.
We’re proud of what a mobilized workforce we have in the Canadian Media Guild at CBC/ Radio-Canada! All of our location units have full rosters on their Local Executive Committees, and many have grown larger this term. We’ve also trained a record number of shop stewards this past year – over 40 in Toronto, Vancouver & Newfoundland/ Labrador.
We hope you take pride in your work and your union in 2025!
In Solidarity,
CBC/Radio-Canada Branch Executive
*Please note: This communication is published on behalf of the CBC/Radio-Canada branch by the CMG head office and its contents are the sole responsibility of the CBC/Radio-Canada branch.