We know members are interested in what kinds of measures they can take in order to prevent cuts and save jobs in their area and at CBC. We appreciate all the suggestions that have been shared with Guild activists and staff, including reduced working hours and weeks, job sharing, unpaid leave, and voluntary pay cuts.
As you know, the Guild and the other CBC unions have been meeting with management to examine ways of saving enough money to minimize the cuts. The Guild has approached these discussions with the following principles: that any across-the-board measure be universal (ie. that it affect everybody in the same kind of way) and that individual voluntary measures also be made available.
We are careful to avoid any measures that would permanently reduce our compensation and working conditions, or would permanently affect retirement income of those planning to stop working in the next five years.
Before adopting any measure that affects collective agreement rights, members will have the opportunity to vote on it. The timing of such a vote depends on if and when a measure could be finalized. We are working hard to get this in place before redundancy notices are issued in mid-May, but be assured the work to save jobs will continue past that date.
We know that individual members and groups of members want to talk about ways they can save jobs and services in their particular area. We encourage you to share your ideas with your union first as the priority right now is to find measures that are broad, meaningful and foreseeable enough for CBC to be able to count on their precise value. You can send any ideas to info@cmg.ca.
Beyond the broad measures, the collective agreement allows for measures to reduce working time that require some co-ordination among members. We encourage you to look at Article 62 (Alternate Work Arrangements – page 213) and talk to a Guild representative. You may wish to discuss these with colleagues in your area, and note that these arrangements can require the consent of all people in the group. These are all provisions designed to allow for less working time while maintaining the value of the work performed. We encourage people to consider these principles as we move forward.
Again, we invite you to share with us your ideas and rest assured that the Guild is on it, every day! Get in touch with the Guild (info@cmg.ca) with questions, comments or ideas at 416-591-5333 or 1-800-465-4149.
Marc-Philippe Laurin
CBC Branch President