The dispute over CBC\u2019s branded content initiative \u2018Tandem\u201d has led many journalists at the public broadcaster to wonder how vocal they can be in their opposition to the controversial plan.\u00a0 Some good answers lie in a CMG victory at the Supreme Court of Canada 26 years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n The 1995 Court decision affirmed that journalists <\/span>who are also union leaders<\/span> at the CBC have the right to take public positions without fear of violating internal policies on objectivity.<\/span><\/p>\n Dale Goldhawk, host of CBC\u2019s Cross Country Checkup<\/em>. (Photo courtesy of CBC)<\/p><\/div>\n The case involved Dale Goldhawk who was the host of CBC\u2019s <\/span>Cross Country Checkup<\/span><\/i> in 1988. Free trade was the hot issue of the federal election campaign that year and Goldhawk wrote an article in the union newsletter urging members to oppose the deal. \u00a0 The CBC questioned whether Goldhawk could still be objective on the issue as host of the radio show, and it forced him to choose between his union position and his radio job.<\/span><\/p>\n Goldhawk chose to keep his CBC job.\u00a0 But his union fought back on his behalf.<\/span><\/p>\n At the time, Goldhawk was president of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists\u00a0 (ACTRA).\u00a0 When the Guild won a bargaining unit amalgamation vote in 1993, it gained the right to represent everyone in broadcast and production jobs at the CBC.\u00a0 As a result, the CMG took over the ACTRA members and the Goldhawk case.<\/span><\/p>\n In the Goldhawk case, the union side argued that the CBC\u2019s ultimatum to Goldhawk amounted to interference in a trade union and an unfair labour practice under the Canada Labour Code.\u00a0 In 1992, the Canada Labour Relations Board agreed. But the CBC countered that the Labour Board had no jurisdiction over matters of the Corporation\u2019s journalistic policy and appealed to Canada\u2019s top court.<\/span><\/p>\n Dale Goldhawk. (Photo courtesy of CBC)<\/p><\/div>\n The Supreme Court agreed with the Labour Board and the Guild in an 8-1 ruling. \u201cAs for the journalistic policy of the CBC itself, this document does not enjoy the status of legislation. It is an internal management directive promulgated by the CBC based on its own interpretation of its obligations under the Broadcasting Act\u2026.Even the most admirable policy cannot permit an employer to amend unilaterally the scope of union rights provided by statute,\u201d wrote Mr. Justice J. Iacobucci.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n CMG\u2019s lawyer Sean FitzPatrick of the labour law firm Cavalluzzo summed up the <\/span>Goldhawk <\/span><\/i>decisions this way: “The Supreme Court upheld the Labour Board\u2019s finding that an employer\u2019s policies, including the journalistic practices policies of news employers, cannot interfere with an employee\u2019s\u00a0 right to belong to and be active in their union, and to make public statements in their capacity as union officials.”<\/span><\/p>\n Fitzpatrick says it comes down to this:\u00a0 Management cannot direct an employee who has a union role on what they can and cannot say publicly in that role as a union official. If you are a union official, you are free to speak out about issues\u00a0relevant to that role, such as issues<\/span> in the collective agreement or which<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>will be addressed in collective bargaining or are being promoted by the union or\u00a0the union movement. However, in the case of journalists, management might take into consideration what an employee who is a union official has said publicly when it is deciding on\u00a0work assignments<\/span> to try to avoid having them cover a story on which they have taken a public stand.<\/span><\/p>\n Lise Lareau worked as a news producer at the CBC for 35 years and was president of the CMG from 2000-2010.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Victory was a boost to union leaders and their right to speak out By Lise Lareau The dispute over CBC\u2019s branded content initiative \u2018Tandem\u201d has led many journalists at the public broadcaster to wonder how vocal they can be in… Read more ![\"Dale](\"http:\/\/www.cmg.ca\/toronto\/cbc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/AR-19910103-ST-XD-PATERSON-GOLDHAWK-VINDICATED_frame_1083-1024x576.jpg\")
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