On Monday August 21, TVO workers affiliated with the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) walked off their jobs in an unprecedented strike for the public broadcaster and media organization. This comes after months of negotiations surrounding contracts and wages.
The CMG represents 74 TVO employees in programming and content and digital learning. Their collective agreement expired in October 2022 and last February unionized employees voted in favour of strike action if negotiations failed. Those striking include journalists, producers, media workers, teachers and education workers.
Fighting for better wages and job security
Dozens of workers are now walking the picket lines in an effort to secure better wages after below-inflation increases for over a decade. Low wages combined with inadequate funding means increased workloads for employees, who are constantly being asked to do more with less. An all too familiar feeling for many public employees.
Along with offering pitiful wage increases, TVO is looking to remove a stipulation in the collective agreement that automatically turns contract positions into permanent jobs after two years. The union has refused this concession as it will undoubtedly leave workers stuck in precarious employment. As the “gigification” of work becomes more pervasive across many sectors, the CMG has made a stand against this practice, which would create instability for workers and the organization, prevent workers from accessing health benefits, and divide workers into different tiers, complicating workplace organizing.
The union is demanding 5 percent, 4.25 percent and 4 percent raises over the next three years. A more than reasonable demand considering the below inflation wage increases they have seen for the past decade. They are also seeking a $3,500 pensionable bonus for employees whose wages were capped by Bill 124, the now overturned provincial legislation that suppressed public sector wages.
Fighting for public broadcasting
This strike is more than a personal fight for workers rights, their fight is also for better services for all Ontarians who view and consume TVO’s programming which includes journalism, documentaries and educational curricula for children. As the number of publicly-funded media outlets dwindles, and with fake news and right-wing misinformation on the rise, it is crucial that we support accurate and well-researched journalism.
Underfunding TVO also serves the Ford’s government’s ongoing attempt at destroying publicly-owned spaces and educational projects, as we’ve seen with the Greenbelt, Ontario Science Centre and Ontario Place. The Conservative provincial government already cut TVO’s base operating grant by 5% in 2020. Some union members, such as Meredith Martin the president of the TVO branch of the CMG, see the TVO’s failed contract negotiation as a calculated attempt to further starve and eventually eliminate the broadcaster.
This is the perfect time for TVO workers to join the growing number of unions fighting for better conditions across North America. This includes the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in the United States. We are seeing an increased push towards fairer wages and working conditions across all departments of unionized media, film and television, as well as unionizing and organizing efforts from various groups of currently non-unionized media workers.
Join the picket line at 2180 Yonge St. in Toronto and bring a Justice for Workers ‘Support TVO workers sign’ to show support.
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