In the wake of the joint Canadian Media Guild (CMG)/CBC / Radio-Canada Job Strategy exercise that reviewed seven job descriptions, CMG is preparing for arbitration on two new Band 10 job classifications the Union has proposed to the Corporation. These classifications would co-exist with those currently at Band 8, not replace them. While creating job classifications is a management right, the Guild believes these new jobs would benefit some members who work above their current pay grades, but not quite to the level of other jobs several paybands higher.

If you are an Associate Producer (AP) or Reporter/Editor whose work may fit the descriptions below, please email Associate Staff Representative Karina Tuchinskaya (karina@cmg.ca). In your message, please explain in detail why you think your work meets these bars. Information on how your work has changed over time – including secondments/temporary upgrades granted and any reclassification conversations in which you have engaged with CBC/Radio-Canada – will be important to include. Please provide this information no later than October 11, 2024.

Arbitration doesn’t mean that what CMG is seeking becomes an automatic change. It simply means the Union has argued that the Corporation should create these new classifications.

One of these classifications is an Associate Producer (AP) position at Band 10. The clearest case for the creation of this classification is the work of certain members assigned to investigative programs such as Go Public, The Fifth Estate, Marketplace, The National and Enquête. What sets their work apart is the APs’ level of accountability due to, for example, the nature of the subject matter this programming deals with. These APs are expected to help protect the Corporation’s exposure to litigation and to vet the factual basis of the work in some high-profile reporting. These APs also work in a largely self-administered capacity within broad guidelines. In these respects, investigative APs’ assignments may resemble those of Producers.

The other job classification CMG has proposed is a Reporter/Editor (R/E) position, also at Band 10. These reporters similarly work in a largely self-administered environment. But they are regularly assigned to such types of work as data journalism, court reporting or to cover another specialized “beat” like the environment or business, to cite two examples.

To be clear, the arbitration is about job structure rather than individuals. What the Guild therefore seeks are representative examples that may be used to advance its case for the creation of these two Band 10 classifications in situations that don’t meet the bar of Producer (Band 12) or Senior Reporter (also Band 12).

Note that CMG is not soliciting input from reporters permanently classified as Provincial Affairs Reporter (Band 10) or Senior Reporter (Band 12).

Many thanks for your input.     

Marianne Malo Chenard, Staff Rep., Canadian Media Guild (CMG)

Matt Douglas, Senior Staff Rep., Canadian Media Guild (CMG)