A winner-take-all showdown is looming at the CBC between the two unions that currently represent its non-supervising and management employees outside of Quebec and Moncton, NB.

Starting Nov. 3, the Canada Industrial Relations Board will be mailing ballots to nearly 6,000 Corp. workers to settle which union will represent them all, the Canadian Media Guild or the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. The CMG currently has two bargaining units representing more than 4,000 employees at the CBC, one for editorial and production workers and one for administrative, clerical and sales staff. The CEP reps 1,800 technical and trades workers at the Corp.

The reasons for this election go back to 1999, when the CMG announced its wish to merge its two bargaining units into one. The CBC responded that what it wanted was to have to deal with just one union for all its employees. The broadcaster argued that it was too costly to have to deal with three separate grievance committees and bargaining units, and the CIRB agreed.

The campaign has been a contentious one. The CMG is trying to paint the CEP as a militant organization that has executed strike action (in 1999 and the lockout of 2001) to little effect. Meanwhile, the CEP keeps harping on the CMG’s affiliation with the U.S.-based Communications Workers of America, categorizing itself, on the other hand, as a ‘large Canadian union.’

Voters must return their marked ballots by Dec. 12.