President's Report

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The holiday season is just around the corner, and so unfortunately are some hard times.

Ivan Fecan, President and Chief Executive Officer, CTVglobemedia announced that, “we are going to implement a number of immediate measures that allow CTV to save significant costs while utilizing our resources more efficiently and effectively”.                                      

I expect this will mean layoffs for our members at CTV and given the softening economy I’m sure that Rogers’ Television will not be too far behind. 

I strongly recommended that you take a look at the layoff clause in the Collective Agreement, Article 9. Your Local has bargained important rights for you under this clause; the right to six weeks notice of layoff, or the right to count your years of service and bump, the right to recall, and the right to receive severance if recall isn’t an option.  These are all benefits provided only to union members. So, take a look at Article 9, ask questions, and know what to expect if you should unfortunately get a layoff notice.

On a more positive note, your Local is celebrating the holiday season with its annual Children’s Christmas Party and an office get together on Friday December 12^th. We will also be handing out the thirty dollar Holiday Food Vouchers again as well as making a five-hundred dollar donation to a Toronto food bank on behalf of our members.

Your Local will have a number of things that we need to address in the coming year. We will need to change our Bylaws to reflect our new composite structure as a Local Union.  We will need to elect two bargaining committees (Rogers’ & CTV) and put together two separate proposal packages. It means that I expect the Local Union will also be very busy in 2009.

I wish you and yours a safe and happy holiday season.

See you in the New Year.

In Solidarity

Kelly Dobbs, President