Radio union bargaining again
Management refusing to let Radio-Canada journos return
About 1,500 on-air and production journalists at French-language Radio-Canada in Quebec and New Brunswick have been locked out for nearly a month after management refused to allow them to return to work following a one-day walkout.
Talks had resumed briefly early in the month, but were scuttled by a union demonstration and news conference at Parliament Hill in Ottawa that violated an agreed-upon media blackout.
Salary, security issues
The Syndicat des communications de Radio-Canada (SCRC) and management have been at odds over salary, job security and pay equity. Sixty-four percent of salaried professionals throughout CBC are permanent employees. In Ontario that figure is 72%, whereas in Quebec just 49.7% of CBC's employees are permanent.
More recently, Radio-Canada received complaints that some of the European programming it was airing was "pirated." Radio-Canada spokesman Marc Sevigny told Daily Variety the accusations are "completely false," pointing to the pubcaster's long-standing reciprocal programming agreements with France 2 and France 3.
The approach of National Hockey League playoffs, which begin Thursday, could help motivate a settlement. The pubcaster has been airing plenty of hockey, accompanied by only the ambient sound of the ice play in place of commentary.
