Canadian Media Guild members at Canwest Television Inc – the former Alliance Atlantis specialty TV channels – are unaffected by today’s announcement that some units of Canwest Global Communications are filing for protection under CCAA, the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.
In a note sent to staff, Canwest Broadcasting president Peter Viner states: “For all current employees, regardless of which business unit you work for, wages and salaries will continue to be paid during the restructuring in the same way they always have been, benefits will remain unchanged and vacation entitlements will not be affected. Your pension entitlements, held under a registered plan – whether it is a defined contribution or a defined benefit plan – will also remain unchanged. The Company has been making and intends to continue to make the required contributions to the registered pension plans.”
We have requested a meeting with management to discuss these latest developments, and how they might conceivably affect the existing deal with Goldman Sachs regarding the future ownership of the specialty channels. As always, we will keep you informed as to what we find out.
If you have any questions, please contact CMG staff representative Keith Maskell at keith@cmg.ca .