Production workers and support staff at CBC are ready to hit the picket line Aug. 15 to back demands for greater job security, following a July ballot in which members of the Canadian Media Guild voted 87.3% in favor of a strike.

A 21-day cooling-off period is in place. Both sides and two federally appointed mediators plan to continue negotiating up to the strike deadline. CMG represents 5,500 employees at CBC.

The vote comes at a bad time for the public broadcaster. An August strike could cancel its broadcasts of the Canadian Football League season and of the Canada Games in Regina.

Jason MacDonald, CBC’s director of public relations, says management ‘is in the process of contingency planning in case of a labor disruption. Obviously, no good would come from a work stoppage. It’s not in anyone’s interest.’

MacDonald adds CBC was not surprised by the overwhelming support for strike action. ‘It’s all part of the give and take and contract negotiations, and it was expected.’

Arnold Amber, president of the CMG branch at the CBC, remains hopeful a deal can be struck before the strike deadline. ‘We’re not in there bargaining for a work stoppage,’ he says. ‘We’re in there bargaining for a contract.’

The biggest – and most divisive – issue between the two sides is the farming out of work to contract employees. The union accuses CBC of abusing the process. CMG says it has nothing against the use of contract employees, but not if it’s part of a broader strategy to replace permanent employees.

‘We use the term ‘ongoing work’ to describe those positions we think should be permanent,’ says Amber.

For its part, the CBC says it needs flexibility with its workforce in order to meet the demands of a rapidly changing broadcast environment.

Negotiations are further complicated by the fact that some CBC staff are still covered by old contracts struck by the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. CBCers came under the purview of CMG in 2003, but the union and the network still haven’t rewritten the three contracts into one.

Negotiations started in May, and while the rhetoric from both sides has at times been heated, Amber says CMG has had to negotiate in tougher situations. ‘Ten years ago we had to deal with a half-a-billion-dollar cut from our budget. That’s why this time I feel more confident.’

-www.cbc.ca

-www.cmg.ca