Support Our TVO / Notre TFO

Dear CEP members and allies,

I am writing to invite you to join "Our TVO / Notre TFO" – a campaign coalition of families, educators, artists, and employees of TVO and TFO who, as citizens of Ontario, value public educational broadcast media and want a greater voice in shaping the future of TVO and TFO.

Please visit www.OurTVO.ca or www.notreTFO.ca and sign the letter to Ontario's premier, Kathleen Wynne, right away.

These are challenging times for the people of Ontario. We are dealing with a struggling economy, acrimonious public policy debates, and rapidly changing technology. At these moments we seek agencies that we can trust, that can unite us, and that can serve as a resource for information and enlightenment. For more than 40 years in Ontario, TVO and TFO have been such institutions.

However, this is a period of great uncertainty for public educational media in Ontario. Both TVO and TFO are doing more with less funding in real dollars than in years past. In the last Ontario Budget, the provincial government warned that TVO must "reduce its reliance on government funding." What exactly this means is unclear, although TVO announced the cancellation of three signature shows on November 13: Big Ideas, Allan Gregg In Conversation, and Saturday Night at the Movies. Many of our members also lost their jobs.

TVO and TFO belong to all of us. We all have a voice in shaping their future. This campaign is intended to help people and organizations like ours to raise our voices.

I sincerely hope you will accept my invitation to join the "Our TVO / Notre TFO" campaign.

Dave Coles
National President
Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada

Boycott Porter Airlines

The members of COPE Local 343 are fighting for their first contract and have been on strike since January 2013.

Porter is using scab labour and we ask that you support our striking sisters and brothers by not flying with Porter Airlines.

In solidarity,

Kim Ginter
CEP Vice-President Ontario Region

Local 723M Welcomes MTV

CEP Local 723M welcomes thirty-eight new members working at MTV. The MTV staff has been moved to Queen Street from the Masonic Temple and are located on the 2nd floor of 299 Queen Street. The employees were introduced to the Union February 4th and have been classified as; Production Assistants, Story Producers, Segment Producers, Associate Producers, Line Producers, Producer/Editors MTV, EFP Editors, Scheduler and Senior Technical Director supporting MTV programming. They are being integrated in the same fashion as E-Talk, BNN and Digital Media employees with recognition of prior service as seniority pursuant to the Local 723M policy and the present Collective Agreement. Welcome!

Bell Code of Conduct

After receiving questions from many local members, the union has sought legal advice on the “Bell Code of Conduct”. On advice from council, the union is now drafting a letter to the employer stating that the collective agreement governs the relationship between our members and the company and not any unilaterally imposed document.

An email was sent out by the company at the end of November stating that all employees must complete the Code of Business Conduct training course by December 31, 2012. At the completion of the course and during an end of year review, employees will also be required to sign a document indicating that they will comply with the Code of Conduct. The union’s lawyer has recommended that we add a line to this document stating: “I am signing this document under protest; a Collective Agreement governs our relationship”.

A copy of the revised document that you may be required to sign is available here.

If you have any further questions, please contact the local union office.

Local Holiday Party

Click to see Photobooth pictures!. Individual pictures will be posted soon.

CEP 2012 Scholarship Winner!

CRTC decision in the public interest

OTTAWA- The CRTC's well-reasoned decision to deny Bell's application to acquire Astral addressed concerns of Canadians and canadian consumers about the scope and impact of this transaction , says the country's largest media union, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

The Commission said that approving "this transaction is not in the public interest." It noted intervenors' concern that "none of the $241.3 million in tangible benefits would be directed toward existing or new local programming for any of the local television and radio stations" that Bell would have bought.

CEP highlighted these points when it appeared at the CRTC's September public hearing.

Among other things, Bell claims it could extract millions of dollars of "synergies" from buying Astral without explaining how it would achieve these savings.

"CEP set out its concern that these so-called synergies actually meant more job losses in a sector that has been hard hit in the last decade," said Peter Murdoch CEP's Vice-President, Media.

"Bell proposed to devote millions of dollars to independant productions; CEP expects that as one of the country's largest media companies, Bell will continue to invest in Canadian programming."

"Going forward," Murdoch said, "CEP expects the CRTC will apply the same rigour and analytical criteria it did in this decision to the next application filed regarding the Astral assets."

Canada's Labour Movement Gets a Cardiac Pump

We are one step closer to a bold new vision for Canada's labour movement. But even more important, we are one step closer to the dream of a more equitable and fair Canada.

Delegates to the CEP convention last week in Québec City voted in favour of forming a new union with the CAW. The CAW voted in favour of the project in August.

Yet unnamed, this new union will represent more than 300,000 workers in every province of the country, in 22 different major economic sectors. It will be the largest private sector union in Canada, but it will also represent thousands of workers who provide public services.

This new union sends a clear message that labour is ready to do what is necessary to take on governments and employers who would like nothing better than to see us disappear. It is the first step in the realization of the goal of revitalizing Canada's union movement. And that is a necessary step in turning back the tide of neoconservative reaction that has seen ever more wealth and power for the already rich and powerful, but stagnation and cutbacks for the rest of us. Why should ordinary Canadians care about this new union?

They should care because strong unions have been at the core of movements that demanded and won public healthcare, pensions, unemployment insurance, childcare, workers compensation, pay equity, health and safety legislation, shorter workweeks, and just about every progressive social service. As legislation and cherished social programs that benefit ordinary Canadians come under attack by ideologies of greed and corporations that demand ever more profit, a revitalized labour movement is exactly what we need.

They should care because our goal is nothing less than reshaping the economic and political systems of this country. The new union will be well suited to take on today's challenges, particularly around the growing precariousness of employment. It will offer a home and a voice to the unemployed and partially employed. This new union will be well suited to take on the challenges of a greying population and the attacks on our pension system. It will offer a home and a voice to the ever-growing number of pensioners.

This new union will be well suited to take on the challenges of unsustainable economic development that threatens our environment and the very future of our planet. It will offer a home and voice for workers, the unemployed and retired Canadians who care about our environment and want to build a sustainable economy.

We will work side by side with environmentalists in a blue-green alliance. This new union will be well suited to take on the challenges of working people in every sector of the economy. Because of our size, experience and geographic spread we will offer a home and a voice to every worker who wants justice and fair treatment in her or his workplace. Our plan is to pool the resources from 300,000 current members and to use at least 10 per cent of our dues every year to help all those who need a union gain the benefits of collective bargaining.

Our motto will be: What we desire for ourselves we wish for everyone. And we will work diligently to make that more than mere words. Right from the start we have tried to make the process of creating this new union as open and transparent as possible. We have to do that because a union is nothing more than the collective strength of its membership.

But, we hope to work on behalf of an even larger group than our current members. We plan to work on behalf of all Canadians who share the vision of a fairer, more just, more sustainable Canada. To do that we commit to keeping the public informed as well as our members. We will be seeking input and advice from a wide variety of organizations and individuals.

Our future is at stake.

This article was written by CEP President Dave Coles

An Attack on Unions - Bill C-377

An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act was introduced in Parliament in February 2012, by Conservative MP Russ Hiebert, (South Surrey, White Rock, Cloverdale, BC). The bill requires unions to file detailed financial statements, which will be made available on the Canada Revenue Agency website.

We are not opposed to transparency. CEP members have access to financial statements on a regular basis. But why unions? And why now? Employer associations and many other organized groups are not required to file anything. Even charities or public companies that do file information, are required to reveal far less than what this bill asks of us.

Could it be that the Harper government wants to know how much we are spending on political action, advocacy and bargaining against their corporate friends? They have tried this before and failed. In 1991 the Supreme Court even made a decision recognizing the importance and legitimacy of trade unions in engaging in political and advocacy activities on behalf of their members.

Interestingly, this bill mimics the bill adopted in the U.S. under former president Bush. At that time, Newt Gingrich was quoted saying “requiring detailed disclosure on unions’ advocacy activities will weaken our opponents and encourage our allies…”

Help us fight Bill C-377 by taking two actions: Email or call Russ Hiebert (russ.hiebert@parl.gc.ca), 613-947-4497, 604-542-9495. Tell him you don’t support Bill C-377 because it is unfair and discriminates against unions. Contact your own MP and tell them that you are a constituent and want them to vote against Bill C-377. C-377 is not about transparency - it’s an attack on unions.

The Conservatives’ double standards tell us who they truly support