New CMG Pres shares an unorthodox way out of the hell that is the 4th floor newsroom
Published May 5, 2010 8:12 am
The Tea Makers
They offered me the office, offered me the shop. They said I'd better take anything they'd got. Do you wanna make tea at the CBC? Do you wanna be, do you really wanna be a cop?
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9 Comments
’if I *was a writer I’™d kill myself’¦’ Who wrote that? One of the “presenters”?
*were
Carmel’s April 4th UPDATE
Apr 4, 2010
President’s Report
Posted by: carmel
Its been a hectic month since the election. We have a great new CMG Toronto committee in place. (see LEC bios)
We meet for a full day once a month to discuss problems and projects in the broadcast center.
Priorities:
Parking Money
We are intensely trying to resolve the parking money issue: ($12.50 in parking $ given to staff who work between midnight and 7am -when public transit is NOT available. This has been the practice for many years, and recently CBC decided to review it. Since then we have been meeting regularly with senior CBC staff trying to rework or revise the program so that it can continue.
News Renewal
On the news renewal workload issue, we have a joint CMG/CBC committee working to try to resolve problems on the 4th floor. There are several union volunteers, and several staff who work in news on the committee, so they definitely KNOW what the problems are!! Bill Thornberry is chair if you want to share your concerns. (bill.thornberry@cmgtoronto.ca)
I have great hope for this committee since CBC has committed that it will work to address any issues we bring up.
Radio Workload Committee:
Making Radio a priority: ’¦we have a TV committee up and going, and the time is ideal (now that radio staff are being relocated), to start something similar in Radio. I’™m pleased we have several volunteers (newbies to union work), in Radio who are interested (anyone else want to join?) let me know. carmel@cmgtoronto.ca
Reviewing All CMG Committees:
The final thing we are working on is trying to make our existing union committees (see Committee list) fair, diverse and inclusive of staff from ALL areas of CBC.
Until next time,
Carmel
EZE READ VERSIN:
April has been a busy month, for members and the union. We’™ve seen unrest in Radio over sudden staff changes and some very brave journalists put out their own survey – to share their workload, and quality concerns with the CBC. I applaud their innovative approach, and hope it brings positive results.
To quote: ’¦ ’¦’ it has certainly got their attention.’™’™’
We hope we can help channel that power for good, and plans are underway to hold one or more staff meetings in radio to setup a committee that can work with CBC to try to resolve problems early. Robert Barlow is the CMG Toronto Chief Steward responsible for Radio On the TV front, we held a meeting on the 4th floor (April 15); several dozen members attended to share their concerns. Issues ranged from the seemingly arbitrary reassignment process and low morale, to the stress of having to do many ’œlittle jobs’ on top of core job functions
A quote: ’¦.’if I was a writer I’™d kill myself’¦’.
The good news? We have a dedicated Joint CMG/CBC committee working on addressing these issues. We passed your concerns onto this committee. It met with CBC managers April 23. Bill Thornberry is the CMG co-chair of that committee. We held a second meeting (Apr 19) for executive and senior producers (in case you didn’™t know, exec’™s & seniors are also CMG members). Some may find it hard to believe, but we heard similar workload concerns: ranging from long hours to constant on-call with the cursed blackberries, and uncertainty about roles.
A quote: ’¦.’ some days the hub needs a referee’¦’
The good news? We also have a CMG and CBC team looking into these issues, so we shared this list with them, they meet with CBC in May. Full lists of concerns are also posted online, Feel free to add your concerns: info@cmgtoronto.ca
Carmel Smyth, President, CMG Toronto
Carmel says “Full lists of concerns are also posted online” – but where?
Carmel looked sharp in her Sargeant Pepper jacket …
Sorry, could not resist.
I wonder if Carmel Smyth needs an ally ?
BTW, Poonie! … on an unrelated matter …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjF1bG5LUcs
be courageous and be brave
and in my heart you’ll always stay …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bbNOPUnyho&feature=related
she probably needs an army… or “The Superfriends”
Everyone at the CBC should read “Rework” by Fried/Hanson (and maybe start with the chapter: Meetings are Toxic). Meetings lead to more meetings, so that everyone thinks a solution is imminent. It isn’t.