All sides of a labor action at the CBC are girding for a long-term battle as both union and management hold firm to their respective positions.

About 16,000 CBC technicians, members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, took up pickets Dec. 7 after contract negotiations broke down with the public broadcaster.

‘The [CBC] has a fistful of these concessions on the table that we just can’t live with,’ says Peter Murdoch, vice-president media for the CEP. ‘It looks to me that this is going to go a while.’

The dispute centres on CBC’s demand that wording be struck from a new collective agreement that would penalize the network when union members miss meal breaks. The CBC also wants to rework overtime provisions and the use of part-time workers.

At press time, neither side had stated a willingness to return to the negotiating table.

At the root is the CBC’s so-called transformation plan launched nearly two years ago to redefine its profile as a public broadcaster, says Fred Maddocks, CBC’s executive director of production and resources.

In addition to a revamped news and current affairs line-up and greater focus on regional programming, ‘we’ve been working internally on production methods, on efficiency and our relationships with our workers. It’s that last one that brings these changes to the table.’

Maddocks says the network has contingencies in place to cover off any long-term effects on its programming, including contract technicians in place for the Winter Olympics that begin in February.

While slight modifications in the programming schedule, including BBC News replacing local news at 6:30 p.m., have been implemented, Slawko Klymkiw, executive director of programming for CBC, says viewers will not notice any major disruptions.

‘We are going to do everything in our power to minimize the repeat programming,’ he says, ‘even if this disruption goes on beyond December.’

Still, early days indicate that all will not be bug free at the national broadcaster, particularly in current affairs and sports – the network’s bread and butter. The CBC was forced to preempt a high-profile match-up between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens and reschedule the announcement of player selections for the Canadian Men’s Olympic Hockey team that was to air before the game.

Klymkiw says that most scheduled dramas and miniseries such as Trudeau, The Last Chapter and Random Passage were produced outside and will not be affected by a lengthy disruption.

-www.cbc.ca

-www.cep.ca