Bargaining update — Pacific Newspaper Group

As most of you know, our collective agreement expired November 30^th.
We have begun the process of negotiating a new union contract with discussions on a number of grievances that built up during the long period of time when the Company was in creditor protection. During that time, all grievances were frozen as an Ontario Superior Court judge worked through the debts owed by Canwest, ending in July with the sale of the newspapers to a group controlled by New York hedge funds.
A negotiating committee with representatives from each area will soon be formed after which we will be consulting the membership through a bargaining survey and meetings.
One of the first steps in negotiating a new agreement will be to review the existing contract, which has yet to be confirmed and signed. There have been some ongoing disagreements about some of the existing language in the contract. We would like these resolved before bargaining over other issues begins.
It’s also important to note that under BC labour law, the current terms and conditions of a collective agreement remain in effect until a new contract is negotiated.
Please check our website (www.mediaunion.ca) for updates, or send me an email at [email protected]
Mike Bocking
Local 2000 President