October 28, 2008 News

Saving The Gazette

Byline strike to continue indefinitely

by Pamela Toman

Tensions continue to run high as negotiation between the Montreal Newspaper Guild and CanWest took a turn for the worse last week, rendering prospects for a settlement hanging in the balance.

The Gazette management staff and the Guild met with a Quebec government conciliator early last week to try and reach a deal between the disputed parties. According to Guild spokesperson Irwin Block, the talks broke off at around noon on Tuesday when Guild representatives left the table, frustrated by management's unyielding position on key issues.

“What they offered was very similar to previous proposals,” said Block in an interview with The Link on Thursday. “We managed to make a little bit of progress on some issues, but we did not see any major proposals relating to key questions about outsourcing production to Hamilton.”

Roughly 180 Gazette editorial, advertizing and reader service employees have been without a contract since June, with 98 per cent voting in favour of a strike mandate last month. At the heart of the union's grievances is CanWest's proposal to relocate production of the Montreal newspaper to a non-union service in Hamilton, as has been done with other CanWest-owned papers. Guild representatives argue the proposed practice would lead to more layoffs and buyouts, effectively altering the integrity of the English-language newspaper.

“We have made several grievances about this,” said Block, “but what the employer wants to do is effectively rework the union agreement so that they can erase our right to file these grievances.”

On Oct. 14, over 100 union representatives launched a lunch-hour information picket line, carrying signs and handing out leaflets to onlookers and passers-by. Union members also created a petition asking concerned citizens to sign in an effort to keep Montreal's newspaper in Montreal.

“We are ready to return to the negotiating table at any time,” said Block, considering the weeks ahead. “The work-to-rule campaign and the byline strike will continue indefinitely.”