Memorandum of agreement

Guy Dixon writes in the G&M:

“With CBC staff and particularly the community of lockout-related Internet blogs on edge last night, the guild announced that the two sides had signed a memorandum of agreement…”

On edge? Us? Was it that obvious?

Congratulations, all.

Wonderful news on an early Monday morning.

26 Comments

  • Aigle De Nuit says:

    Did somebody mention Drinking??
    *bounce*
    (Oh Gods…not again!)

    But seriously, everybody involved with the virtual picket should get together…perhaps we could arrange a closed-circut or webcast thing to get all the regions involved.

    It’s been a slice.

  • Ouimet says:

    Hey bee,

    The pleasure has been all mine. I’d love to meet up, perhaps when conditions are more favourable. Like when Tod is president.

    Regardless, I’ll see you back inside.

    I’ll still be here.

  • cbcworkerbee says:

    Hey Ouimet,

    It’s been a pleasure blogging with you. See you on the inside. I hope someday it may be possible for the bunch of us bloggers to have a drink together… it would be a shame if you were not there. But I understand.

    Cheers.

  • Anonymous says:

    I think we have to be very careful right now, and in the future. Supposedly there is a cap on the percentage of non-permanent staff… but don’t forget,these guys keep trying to tell us that currently only 5% of staff is non-permanent…when it’s clear the number is 30%.

    Don’t let down your guard too soon, mateys!

  • Anonymous says:

    Hopefully the four biggest lingerers will get swept up by the lockout still.
    Get your questions ready for the ratification meeting.We gotta analyze this rat to see what killed it.

  • Anonymous says:

    Maybe the Union won …
    but management was right taking on the union and trying to get rid of of the unmotivated and untalented that linger about the cbc …
    And some of them are in management…and David Common…he talks too much.

  • Anonymous says:

    I’m still standing yeah yeah yeah
    I’m still standing yeah yeah yeah.

    It was great to hear Sir Elton’s song at the Lido Deck today. How a bout a drink… Cheers to CMG, and a toast to Dougie,(the one with the big CBC expense account) all CBC eyes are on you now. Cheers, Viva, salute.
    Amen it’s over.

  • Captain Hook says:

    In the words of Ouimet:

    “Both sides have to claim victory. That’s the way it works…”

    Ouimet, you managers have got some serious thinking to do. You are about to inherit a crew who’s just been bum rushed off it’s own ship. You guys can ponce around the atrium thinking you’ve ‘won’ if you want to, but the fact is you have lost… the respect of many of the people you are supposed to ‘manage’. Not a good position to be in, Captain.

    Don’t add ‘delusion’ to the list of afflictions that encumber the management of the CBC. Now is the time for CBC management to show some genuine humility, real generosity and engage in a serious look in the mirror. Now is not the time for false ego; you guys have absolutely no clothes on.

    If this does not happen, I predict that you will find some of the industries’ most amazing talents heading off to greener pastures. Maybe you should all check the pamphlet for the Niagara Institute to see if they offer courses in basic common sense.

    Now… let’s ask the question once again:

    Ouimet, what’s the temperature inside? Out here it’s pretty fucking hot. As for me, I wanna see some resignations… before we keel haul the lot of you.

  • Anonymous says:

    Someone said: “We just got something on the line that says Stursburg says management got everything they wanted. Huh?”

    There were some concessions from the CMG side too, I think related to overtime.

    Or perhaps he was saying they got everything they wanted…that is, not paying us for 7 weeks so they could use the money to make up for the shortfall in the federal funding. Suspiciously, after each of these ‘labour disruptions’, some new facility pops out, like the Journal studio in 1981 after the the three month NABET strike, or the mobile truck later on. I think we’ll see a bunch of HD and 5.1 audio facilities and upgrades pop out after this one!

  • Anonymous says:

    We won. There’s no question. But you know who else won? Our French colleagues at SCRC. They were facing this very fight next spring. If we didn’t hold firm or if we’d lost, they would have been sunk. Just like CEP helped to settle CMG’s past two contracts while THEY were locked out, we have helped settle SCRC’s next contract (remember they were locked out just a few short years ago). As a former temp, it makes me feel REALLY good that we’ve stood up for all our temps and given them the hope of a real future. And it makes me feel great that we’ve saved our French colleagues from having to go through all this AGAIN. I feel like I’ve been part of something big and noble. This management team had no idea just who they were dealing with. Take that!

  • Anonymous says:

    I posted this on the Drone’s blog but I felt I needed to share my thoughts here as well…

    I would like to thank everyone who got us through this lockout. Drone…you rock and I will miss you. To our bargaining team who stayed the course and the amazing efforts of our Toronto executive committee and it’s many, many volunteer’s, your efforts and long hours did not go unnoticed.

    I have never before been a great union supporter, however I now realize the union is its people.
    So to my new and old friends and colleagues, I am going back as a different person and if you need me I will be there for you as you have been for me over the past
    eight weeks.

    Thank you, thank you, thank you!

  • Anonymous says:

    Hello Ouimet from Neutron. Congrats to all on finally getting an agreement on the table. Yes one of the sides did go out of bounds on this hot potato. Bobby and George are now just going to begin to feel their wrath ( I not wish to repeat myself from my previous posts on this issue) YES as I posted before: the Locked Out were very busy and doing more than just picketing. Yes soon after all return, we will see the fruits of their efforts :To clean up the upper floor for the near futur. To all middle and ground floor managers: please remember, when you notice improvements within to please acknowledge and respect those who fought outside to achieve these better and improvements at the CBC.
    Long live the CBC and its culture in this country and as well in other countries in this crazy business world of globalisation and Big Box stores. To the CBC upper senior managemnt: Never forget the CBC’s biggest intangible asset: the people inside. I say “intangible” because you obviously have not put proper value on this asset.
    To the CMG’ers: You were a CLASS ACT !

  • Anonymous says:

    Question:
    Is it easier for the winner or the loser of a fight to forgive and forget? Then the question is who is the loser. The union people who were locked out and denied an income or the middle management people on the inside working for double overtime? What about the upper management? Even if they loose their jobs they will have some kind of big payoff to leave.
    When you think about it was the union workers that lost the most in terms of dollars. It took seven weeks of no pay for them just to get a fair contract.
    The funny thing is these people are professionals and will do a good job when they get back in spite of loosing so much. Just because they are the best in their field and have self respect. However, I doubt if they will respect for management, especially upper management for a long time maybe never.

  • Ouimet says:

    “What’s going on indside now? We just got something on the line that says Stursburg says management got everything they wanted. Huh?”

    Both sides have to claim victory. That’s the way it works.

  • Anonymous says:

    Dear Captain Hook.

    Thank you for explaining my backwardness and gravy train.

    i am happy for the people who are anxious to go back to work they love and sincerely hope their work environment is not toxic.

    managers are the engineers of the gravy train, and probably reap the most benefits. perhaps they should sit in the caboose for a while.

    the seven week discussion should help (thrash and) change.

    Looking forward to it.

  • Anonymous says:

    Hey Ouimet,

    What’s going on indside now? We just got something on the line that says Stursburg says management got everything they wanted. Huh?

  • Captain Hook says:

    Dear Anonymous at 2:45:

    You have it backwards; had the CBC achieved what they seemed intent on achieving then you can rest assured the CBC would have been fucked for all eternity.

    The gravy train exists, but it’s not the staff that it exists for. To return to my ship analogy, there are too many people pretending to be captains. They don’t give a damn how much money they waste through their own lack of vision. There is no real accountability, and they know it. THAT’s a gravy train.

    The CBC is still broken, sick and sinking fast. Now is not the time to celebrate the return of the status quo. The status quo sucks; we’ll all go down together if it’s not thoroughly thrashed and changed.

  • Anonymous says:

    how disappointing.

    this may be a victory for CMG, but it looks like a loss for the corporation and for all canadians.

    the principles the managers stood for in the beginning were in everyone’s interest, but for some reason they caved.

    so the folks whose gravy train was derailed can get back on it. they may even be rewarded with their missing paychecks from the past seven weeks!? i wonder how many union workers deserved their paycheck when they weren’t locked out?

    is this agreement really about the liberals seeking re-election and the conservatives gaining in the polls? or is it about the older bullying boomer demographic who have always had things their way and use up the majority of society’s resources.

    this dispute could have set the stage for a more equitable distribution of government funds.

    if they pay off the workers, it would seem like a ploy to cover up the reality, that recently came to light, of how grossly mismanaged public funds are at the CBC.

    it is undeniable that networks and information systems are the future of communications in the modern world. but this agreement will entrench the status quo.

    i had high hopes this labour disruption would be the impetus for sweeping changes and innovation within the public broadcaster.

    there is a need for an improved communications system in canada and i don’t see how the existing CBC can do this for us.

    maybe the only option is to cut the CBC’s funding, and establish a new granting council for independent local and regional broadcasters.

  • Anonymous says:

    Cap’n Hook, retro pay usually refers to the pay increase we should have received since the previous contract expired.

    Since we’ve been without a new contract for many months before we were locked out, the pay increase will be retroactive to that date (was it April or May of 04?).

    I doubt they’re gonna pay us for the time we were locked out.

  • Captain Hook says:

    Dear Anonymous:

    ’¢ a wage increase of 12.6 per cent over the life of the contract to March 31, 2009

    ’¢ full retroactivity for all employees on the payroll prior to the lockout, including contract and temporary employees…

    I understand this to mean reinstatement of the pay we should have been receiving had we not be locked out.

    If I have misconstrued this then I apologize. I think it would be a fair and decent move on management’s part, to help it’s labour force recover from the financial hardships imposed by the lockout. If I have misconstrued this and it’s not part of the agreement, I hereby propose that it should be.

  • Anonymous says:

    Captain Hook, you say they are going to pay us for the time we were locked out. Where do you get that?

    As for Ouimet, I have enjoyed this blog a lot.I hope you keep it up.

  • Anonymous says:

    I totally agree with that. The real problem, as the lockout showed, is the incompetence of management. There is no fresh thinking among that cabal. Heads should roll after creating a wasteful mess like the lockout. Management needs a severe cleansing.

  • Captain Hook says:

    I said it elsewhere and I’ll say it here:

    How utterly typical of CBC management to completely do a 180 and capitulate so completely. They’re even going to pay us for the time we were locked out. In the end, they accomplished nothing that they set out to do.

    How utterly typical to get halfway through the journey only to turn back. This mirrors exactly how badly the place is run; indecision, bad judgement, lousy communication. This is what we’re going back to.

    Sorry for the cynicism, but I further expect that CBC mis-management will not say a word about the lockout when we get back; they’ll just give their directives and pick up where we all left off. Don’t expect any warm greeting. Expect a shitload of work to make up for what we’ve all just been through. They’re going to have to re-establish territorial lines quick… Just watch how fast it will back to ‘business as usual’.

    I’m glad it’s over because so many of us need the money and the benefits, but there’s so much to be done in order to transform this place into a functioning unit. I don’t believe it will happen. Management is simply not up to the task, they have no cohesive vision for the CBC or internal business practices and, even if they did, are not capable of transmitting it to the staff.

    Again, pardon this negative outlook. I don’t mean to rain on the victory parade. But it seems to me like we are a crew going back to the ship after a long time at port. The place is a mess, the sails are in tatters and the map has been lost. We’ll be expected to clean up the mess, and then set sail once again… following the directives of the same bunch of drunken pirates who ran us aground in the first place.

  • TribbleKat says:

    Congratulations to all!

    Sincere best wishes in the healing and recovery process, and in getting the CBC ship on course.

  • Anonymous says:

    Dude, you may not like this manager, but the bottom worker-bee isn’t the target you want to focus your frustrations on.

    The Gang Of Four caused this mess.

    Focus to energy there.

    NotInvolved.

  • Anonymous says:

    yay! looks like a fair deal.

    and ouimet, except for the post acknowledging how bullshit that 5%-contract-staff stat was, fuck you still.

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