Today, Canadian Media Guild (CMG) members ratified our first collective agreement with Corus. The ratification vote was held on Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday, March 7, 2018.
Ninety-five per cent of the ballots cast were in favour of the deal. The term of the agreement is from May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2018.
A year ago, our bargaining unit began the process of negotiating an agreement with the employer. Since then, co-workers have pulled together in favour of the agreement we secured today.
Ratification is effective immediately, and highlights of the agreement are as follows:
– All pay increases are retroactive to May 1, 2017. Corus has agreed to pay out retro-pay within two weeks of ratification.
– Pay raises up to 16.7% have started to address the pay inequalities your bargaining team identified, by raising up the lowest paid members.
– New and current members who are not above scale will now progress with guaranteed annual minimum increases of 3% to 4% on average. The opportunity to discuss merit-based pay increases for individuals remains unchanged.
– Dental benefits have gone up for everyone.
– There are increased sick leave protections for members whose protections had been limited to 10 days.
– All members now have access to 2 personal days.
Read the full agreement here. You can also contact CMG staff rep Matt Douglas (matt@cmg.ca) or Branch President, Craig Jasman (craig@jasman.ca) with your questions.
We aim to set up membership meetings next week, Thursday and Friday, during lunch hour, to discuss next steps. Look for meeting details early next week.
We achieve a great deal together as co-workers, both on the job and collectively as union members. Today is one of those days.
We are pleased to have negotiated a contract that will support our work and our contribution to the continued success of Corus, one of Canada’s leading media companies.
Craig Jasman
President, Corus Branch, Canadian Media Guild
Kamala Rao
National President, Canadian Media Guild
The Canadian Media Guild is comprised of over 5000 media workers at AFP, APTN, The Canadian Press, CBC/Radio-Canada, Corus, PMNA, Thomson Reuters, TFO, TVO, Vice Media, and ZoomerMedia, as well as other media organizations.