Fallout from management’s plans to cut 10% of the CBC/SRC workforce continues to ripple through our organization. By telling us that cuts were coming, without details on who or when, leaves us feeling like it’s a perpetual earthquake rumbling towards us. It creates a stressful work environment and prolonged culture of fear, as so many worry about their own jobs or their colleagues’ well being. And the fact that CBC has been pulled into the political spotlight is making us feel even more vulnerable.
What can we do about it? As a union we can keep our solidarity through this. Continue to book annual leave and call in sick when you’re ill, to ensure that our temporary workers will keep on getting work. Do not perform work outside your paid hours, so it’s evident where funds must remain to create and support the mandated functions of the public broadcaster everyday. Be kind and supportive to one another on the floor as we all endure the added stress this has caused.
What can the union do about it? We can continue to push for a fair deal at the bargaining table, and follow through on the mandate given by the membership to get fair working conditions & a living wage. We continue to push mgmt to be accountable on the $125 Million shortfall, after two years where they received over $160 Million in additional monies ($119M in pension holiday, and $42M in extra covid funding in 2021-2022). The union is prepared to use the full force of our collective agreement to protect our rights through workforce adjustment and keep as many people working as possible. And we will continue to keep you informed via communiques and meetings as things evolve.
Please don’t feel that you are facing this alone– we’re in this together and will fight to keep our public broadcaster strong and vital. You can find further information on our workforce adjustment process here on our website.
On a more positive note, pension surplus sharing has been overwhelmingly confirmed by pensioners as required by OSFI. We are setting new precedents whereby employee contributors have gained the right to share in a pension plan surplus – something that has not been the norm in Canada previously. Hopefully individual payouts will start in a couple of months. It’s another way that your union is working for you.
In Solidarity