October 13th, 2011
The time to stand up for union principles is noon on Saturday. The BC Fed and the CEP, along with many other unions have decided to demonstrate our support of the Occupy Wall Street movement by rallying at the Vancouver Art Gallery at noon on Saturday.
While this is not simply a union-organized demonstration, the labour movement of B.C. does support the broad aims of a movement that has spread across the world.
Here is the statement of agreement from the Occupy Vancouver website:
“We, the Ninety-Nine Percent, come together with our diverse experiences to transform the unequal, unfair, and growing disparity in the distribution of power and wealth in our city and around the globe. We challenge corporate greed, corruption, and the collusion between corporate power and government. We oppose systemic inequality, militarization, environmental destruction, and the erosion of civil liberties and human rights. We seek economic security, genuine equality, and the protection of the environment for all.
“We are inspired and in solidarity with global movements including those across the Middle East, Europe, and the Occupy Wall Street / Occupy Together movement in over 1000 cities in North America. Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.
“We humbly acknowledge that Occupy Vancouver is taking place on First Nation territories.
“We are committed to an inclusive and welcoming space, to addressing issues of oppression and discrimination, and to creating an environment where all the 99% can be heard and can meaningfully participate. We are also committed to safeguarding our collective well-being – including safety from interpersonal violence and any potential police violence.”
These are goals and positions that fit completely with the labour movement’s most cherished principles. Solidarity. Democracy. What we seek for ourselves we also wish for others.
Please attend.
Gary Engler
Posted in Blog, General |
April 29th, 2011
One of the worst consequences of the economic hard times that newspapers have faced across North America has been a renewed attack on the craft of photojournalism.
More and more newspapers have demanded that reporters take photos and video.
Here in B.C. some of our community newspaper photographer members have been laid off, others have been offered tech change buyouts. Reporters have become reporter-photographers. Unfortunately we have limited tools in these collective agreements to fight this. At the Sun and Province reporters have been given cameras and told to shoot video — something we are grieving because of better language in the PNG contract.
The “value” of a good photograph seems to have been diminished in the eyes of our bosses. They just don’t seem to get the importance of what photographers do.
Un
Here’s something I wrote for the Local 2000 newsletter a few years ago that remains both true and relevant:
A great photograph captures the essence of a story in a way that ten thousand written words cannot. A great photograph can define an entire era.
For those of us who lived through the Vietnam war, and even for many who did not, the iconic memories of that conflict are two images captured by photo journalists: The Saigon police chief shooting a prisoner in the head or the girl running in terror, her skin burning after a napalm attack.
The job of every photojournalist is to capture a picture that is “worth a thousand words” to their fellow human beings who are hard wired to understand their world through images, as well as written and spoken language.
Taking a great photograph is part serendipity, but like every art or craft it also requires lengthy training and experience. A professional photographer performs her or his work so well that we see only the image — the skill of obtaining and presenting it are hidden by the craft.
Unfortunately this means that some people become convinced that “anyone can do it” and that there really is no skill at all. “All you need to do is just point and shoot” the ads tell us.
Anyone who writes for a living knows that many people think “anyone can do that” as well. And, of course, anyone can write something. But that does not mean anyone can function as a journalist.
One role of a union is to defend the standards of its members’ professions and crafts. That is why it is necessary for the Local 2000 to do all that it can to promote and defend photojournalism. It is in the interest of our photographer members, but also in the interests of everyone who cares about quality journalism.
Over the years, one of the mechanisms we bargained into some collective agreements, such as that at the Sun and Province newspapers, was a ban on “dual use” reporter/photographer classifications. This ban is intended to protect photographers and to ensure that some people can focus exclusively on telling the story through images. It is also intended to ensure that reporters can focus on what they need to do in order to get their story.
Sometimes the union is asked to allow the use of reporter/photographers even when it is clearly not allowed in a collective agreement. Most often the company does this in an attempt to save money, but sometimes our own members try to sidestep the ban because they do not consider the wider implications.
It is important for every union member to understand their collective agreement and to learn why certain provisions are in place. It is critical for us to defend our crafts.
Gary Engler
Tags: Granville Square, Interior, Lower Mainland
Posted in Blog, General, Uncategorized |
December 8th, 2010
Some thoughts about Postmedia’s recent year-end financial results:
While its newspapers continue to generate significant revenue, debt continues to be a problem at Postmedia, just as it was for Canwest when that company went into creditor protection earlier this year.
The Postmedia Network 2010 year-end financial statements illuminate how big that problem is. As of Aug. 31, 2010 Postmedia’s total debt was $688.6 million, broken down into three pieces:
$293,288,000 at an effective interest rate of 14.5%
$285,289,000 at an effective interest rate of 10.7%
$110,000,000 at an effective interest rate of 9.8%
On the company presentation to analysts after the results were released, Paul Godfrey stressed that debt repayment would be a corporate priority. Given the interest rates paid on Postmedia debt, this is no surprise. But, if so much revenue goes towards paying down debt where does the money come from to invest in the expanded digital operation?
- Fiscal year 2010 print revenue of $937,305,000 was almost $50 million less than the $986,115,000 in 2009. Digital revenue rose by about $5 million in the same period. The hope that digital revenue will replace losses on the print side seems premature at best.
- Net paid circulation declined 6% from 2009 to 2010.
- 2010 operating profit (before interest expenses etc.) rose 26% ($26.3 million) to $128.8 million. This was a result of newsprint costs falling 28% year over year and job cutting.
- How is Postmedia planning to become a Canadian company under the terms of the Income Tax Act? Currently over 90% of shares of its shares are owned by non-Canadians. The Act requires that at least 75% must be owned by Canadians. Here’s the relevant section from Postmedia management’s discussion:
Failure to comply with “Canadian newspaper” status would materially affect our financial results and our business prospects.
Under the Tax Act, generally no deduction is allowed for an outlay or expense for advertising space in an issue of a newspaper for advertisement directed primarily to a market in Canada, unless the issue is a “Canadian issue” of a “Canadian newspaper.”
In order to qualify as a “Canadian issue”, the issue generally must have its type set in Canada, be edited in Canada by individuals resident in Canada for purposes of the Tax Act and be printed and published in Canada.
The test of whether a newspaper is a “Canadian newspaper” depends on the jurisdiction, governance, factual control and share ownership of the corporation which directly publishes the newspaper. The newspapers acquired pursuant to the Acquisition are directly published by Postmedia. In order to satisfy the requirements of a “Canadian newspaper” (subject to a statutory 12 month grace period from the Acquisition Date), Postmedia must satisfy the following: (i) the corporation must be incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province thereof, (ii) the chairperson or other presiding officer and at least 75% of the directors or other similar officers of the corporation must be Canadian citizens, and (iii) the corporation must not be controlled, in fact, directly or indirectly, by citizens or subjects of a country other than Canada.
In addition, under the share ownership requirements, at least 75% of the voting shares of each of Postmedia Network Inc. and the National Post and shares having a fair market value in total of at least 75% of the fair market value of all issued shares of each corporation, must be beneficially owned, directly or indirectly through holding corporations or partnerships, by either (i) Canadian citizens or (ii) one or more corporations (“Qualifying Public Corporations”) incorporated in Canada each of which is a public corporation a class or classes of shares of which are listed on a designated stock exchange in Canada other than a public corporation controlled by citizens or subjects of a country other than Canada. Both Postmedia Network Inc. and the National Post will be, directly or indirectly, wholly-owned subsidiaries of Postmedia Network Canada Corp.; accordingly, either (i) shares representing at least 75% of the votes and value of all shares of the Corporation must be owned, directly or indirectly, by Canadian citizens or Qualifying Public Corporations, or (ii) the Corporation must itself be a Qualifying Public Corporation.
Issues of the newspapers acquired pursuant to the Acquisition qualify as “Canadian issues” of “Canadian newspapers” (or otherwise fall outside of the limitation on deductibility of advertising expenses) and as a result advertisers currently have the right to deduct their advertising expenditures for Canadian tax purposes. However, following the Acquisition and until such time as (i) shares representing at least 75% of the votes and value of all shares of the Corporation are owned, directly or indirectly, by Canadian citizens or Qualifying Public Corporations, or (ii) the Corporation is itself a Qualifying Public Corporation, these newspapers will no longer qualify as “Canadian newspapers” (subject to a statutory 12 month grace period). It is not expected that the 75% votes and value test will be met at closing and it may not be met in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, if the Corporation does not satisfy the requirements of a Qualifying Public Corporation (meaning a class or classes of its shares are listed on the TSX or other designated stock exchange in Canada and it is not controlled by citizens or subjects of a country other than Canada) by the end of the 12th month following the month in which the Acquisition occurs, our newspapers will (absent a change in circumstances) cease to be “Canadian newspapers” for purposes of the Tax Act at that time, and advertisers in our newspapers will cease to be able, under the Tax Act, to deduct their outlays or expenses associated with advertising in our newspapers.
If our newspapers cease to be “Canadian newspapers” for purposes of the Tax Act, it is expected that our advertising revenue will decline significantly, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
There can be no assurance that issues of the newspapers published or produced by us will continue to be “Canadian issues” of “Canadian newspapers” under the Tax Act, or that Canadian federal income tax laws respecting the treatment of deductibility of advertising expenses incurred in relation to “Canadian issues” of “Canadian newspapers” will not be changed in a manner which adversely affects us.
So, how does Postmedia become Canadian? They say it will happen through a public stock offering, but the IPO market has not been promising. Their only other choice will be to find a Canadian company to buy at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares.
One way or another employees of Postmedia will have new owners by the end of August 2011.
The CEP continues to monitor this situation in the interests of our members and Canadian media in general. We believe it is critical that our newspapers do not fall into the hands of foreign ownership against the wishes of Parliament and the vast majority of Canadians.
Gary Engler
Posted in Blog |
November 17th, 2010
The elections committee has announced the following results:
Ballots cast: 1,164
Spoiled: 15
Total: 1,149
Gary Engler: 820 – Elected
Mike Irving: 329
Tags: Commercial Industrial, Granville Square, Interior, Kennedy Heights, Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island
Posted in Uncategorized |
October 5th, 2010
At a certain time of life, most union members start thinking about retirement. Some of us look forward to it. Most of us wonder whether our income will be adequate, what will happen to our health coverage, and what life will be like after work without our union to fight for us.
That’s why the B.C. Labour movement created the B.C. Federation of Retired Union Members. We’re affiliated to the B.C. Federation of Labour. We work together to promote the values, collective strength and solidarity of the labour movement. For example, we advocate for better pensions, support union campaigns, and negotiate group benefit plans for our members.
We’re not all retired. If you’re 50, you have sufficient life experience to qualify for membership. Many unions support us by paying for your first year’s membership. After that, membership is just $15 a year, or $39 for three years. It includes $2,500 accidental death and disability coverage, and a subscription to our quarterly newsletter The Advocate. Most importantly, your participation adds to the collective strength and experience of our organization, enabling us to advocate even more effectively on behalf of older workers, retired union members and our families.
BC FORUM is run by a volunteer board of directors who are directly appointed by affiliated unions. We work closely with other groups including the Council of Senior Citizens Organizations of B.C., the Congress of Union Retirees of Canada, and of course, the B.C. Federation of Labour where our office is located. We are determined to build solidarity across generations, and encourage political action to build a more civil society in B.C.
For the best time of your life, join us today! Call Wendi at 604-688-6545 or toll-free at 1 800 896-5678. You can also reach us by e-mail at bcforum@bcfed.ca or join via our website at www.bcforum.ca
Alice West
President, BC Forum
Posted in Blog |
September 2nd, 2010
Today letters went out to employees at the Victoria Times Colonist, Vancouver Sun and The Province announcing buyouts.
Over the past week Postmedia has been cutting jobs at its newspapers across Canada. Positions have been chopped at the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal.
Below is the text of the letter from Kevin Bent to PNG employees. The company has not provided us with any other details.
“Pacific Newspaper Group announces that we will be accepting applications for the Voluntary Staff Reduction Plan (VSRP).
“As our Company emerges from CCAA protection in an economy that remains volatile, we must continue to find ways to serve our readers and advertisers in more cost-effective ways while we continue to transform our business.
“Eligible employees for consideration for the VSRP are regular full time or regular part time employees who are covered by Part “A” (Former Guild) of the Collective Agreement.
“The VSRP terms and conditions are outlined in the Collective Agreement. The basic provisions are 6 weeks pay per year of service to a maximum of $150,000.
“Applications will be accepted up until 5PM Friday September 17th. Application forms and a Frequently Asked Questions document are attached or can be obtained from the Human Resources Department.
“Offers to those employees making application will be at the sole discretion of the Pacific
Newspaper Group, subject to VSRP parameters regarding classification and seniority. PNG Human Resources are contacting the CEP Local 2000 to establish a plan oversight committee further to the plan provisions.
“Prior to any offers being extended, PNG will assess operational and staffing needs, financial considerations, the timing of departures and the number of applicants. Those being accepted for the VSRP at this time should expect to have their employment cease prior to October 31st, 2010.
“Any questions about this plan may be directed to your Department Manager or the Human Resources Department.”
Please check this website for further information.
Gary Engler
Posted in Blog, Canwest |
June 11th, 2010
Here’s wishing at least one business reporter would ask some questions about the deal to buy Canwest newspapers, rather than simply repeating what’s in company press releases.
On Wednesday, less than 24 hours before creditors were supposed to get together to approve a court-sanctioned deal, the meeting was postponed and late Thursday night it was announced that the buyers have “proposed amendments to the composition of their funding commitment.”
The spin? This is good news because the Ad Hoc Committee of 9.25% bondholders had “tweaked” their offer to reduce the debt burden of the new company. While the unsecured creditors proposed share in the new company falls from 45% to 32.5% (the mostly U.S.-based hedge funds get 67.5%) under the reorganized offer, this too, we are told, is good news because less debt means the new company will be worth more.
But, here are some questions that should be asked, given the circumstances:
“You’ve decided to restructure the deal so the new company has less debt. Does this mean you were having trouble selling the previous plan to investors?”
And: “Is your decision to alter your original plan, at least in part, due to the uncertain conditions in the world financial markets?”
We know, for example that last week Porter Airlines cancelled its planned initial public offering (IPO), citing poor market conditions.
“What effect will the uncertain market have on the planned IPO for the new newspaper company? Is it possible that you may back out of this proposed deal if the IPO market remains flat?”
Yes, one of the main players in the proposed deal, Steven Shapiro, a founder of Golden Tree Asset Management was quoted as saying “‘it’s way too early’ to think about an exit” which suggests the U.S.-based hedge funds are contemplating operating the newspapers for some time. But how can they do that? After all, there are laws in Canada that require newspapers to be Canadian owned.
“Has the federal government changed the laws that require Canadian ownership of newspapers? If not, how do these U.S. based hedge funds plan to get around those laws? Will the Harper government simply ignore the law? Will the Liberals, NDP and Bloc go along with that?”
Oh so many questions and very few answers.
Gary Engler
Posted in Blog, Canwest |
May 26th, 2010
The sale of Canwest’s newspapers, approved in principle last week by a bankruptcy judge in Toronto, to an ad hoc committee of bondholders, mostly based in the USA, does little to reassure 1,700 members of Canada’s largest media union who work for the chain.
“In fact this proposed sale under the creditor protection process may be no solution at all to the debt woes that got Canwest into bankruptcy protection in the first place,” says Peter Murdoch, Vice-President, Media, of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.
Under the deal, the new company will be saddled with $700 million in loans from US banks. Plus there are other credit arrangements with US hedge funds that will raise the debt load higher.
Murdoch points to media reports that a $400 million loan being used to partially finance the purchase will pay extremely high interest rates, in effect replacing debt that got Canwest into trouble with another mess of junk bonds.
“It doesn’t add up,” he says. “Torstar, with over a hundred years in this business, thought Canwest papers were worth $800 million, but financiers with no newspaper experience will pay $1.1 billion. We fear our members, other employees and the Canadians who rely on these newspapers to keep them informed will ultimately pay the price of yet more financial risk taking.
“And we have laws in place to protect Canadian ownership of critical cultural industries, including newspapers. Can the laws simply be ignored because the current government doesn’t believe in them?
“This proposed sale seems to satisfy the self-interest of banks, Wall Street hedge funds and other creditors, but what about the journalists, sales staff, press operators and others who will be left working for a company that still has very high debt levels and is controlled by Wall Street hedge funds?”
CEP National Office press release
Posted in Blog, Canwest |
March 30th, 2010
Screw the workers and look after ourselves! This seems to be the motto that Canwest senior managers live by, as judged by their actions in the current Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceedings.
Not content with the original $3.4 million worth of incentives for 24 senior managers (half paid out last December) to remain at their jobs, plus an additional $1.2 million in “special arrangements” for Dennis Skulsky and another unnamed senior manager at the National Post, last week the court was asked to approve even more payments. The reason? The work these senior managers do is critical to the company, their workload has gone up and their already high salaries are just not enough incentive to keep them on the job. They just might (gasp) quit, unless they get more money!
So what did the court do upon hearing this sad tale of executive woe? It approved an additional $1.3 million in incentive payments for the original 24 senior managers, plus three more who have now also been deemed worthy.
Who are these 27 senior managers? We don’t know because the court documents keep their names and individual payments secret. What we can say is that certain senior Canwest corporate types are beneficiaries of the CCAA system’s bias towards rewarding select executives for their plain-to-see failure (after all the company is in bankruptcy protection).
And we do know for sure that Local 2000 and Local 525 members who work at College Printers are not among the lucky few getting bonuses for continuing to do their jobs. In fact, there is a very real possibility that the 100-plus union members will not even get what their contracts say they are supposed to get when the plant shuts down at the end of September. This is because under the current CCAA system, companies may legally avoid paying severance, just as they can legally stop making up shortfalls in pension plans.
Our union asked certain Canwest execs to tell the court-appointed monitor that there was a good business case to be made for guaranteeing the severance payments at College Printers. After all, the Canwest-owned printing plant does have a contract with the Globe and Mail to print the B.C. edition of that paper until Sept. 30, 2010. Wouldn’t you think that makes essential the people who do the actual work of printing the paper?
Not according to the company’s letter that was sent to the court-appointed monitor. (It made it seem like the union was twisting the company’s arm even to write a letter.) Not according to the CCAA system.
According to the system, it’s okay to screw workers out of what’s in their supposedly legally binding contract. Not only that, the system says give the money, and more, to 27 already highly paid executives instead of the workers.
The lesson? I’d say it’s time we changed the system.
Gary Engler
Posted in Blog, Canwest |
March 12th, 2010
So now that we have some idea of who is interested in buying Canwest’s newspapers which one of the bidders should we, the employees, be cheering for?
According to news reports “about” six companies or consortiums have submitted expressions of interest in the first stage of the sale process as outlined in the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceedings. A committee of secured creditors is supposed to decide by next week which bidders, if any, move onto the second stage of the process.
One consortium is said to involve Gail and Leonard Asper. Paul Godfrey, current head of the National Post apparently has the financial backing of Onex and the Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCO), which manages public sector pension funds. Two other companies familiar to Local 2000 members, Glacier Media and Black Press are also said to have made expressions of interest. Details about other interested parties have not yet been revealed.
According to the Financial Post the initial bids are mostly less than the $950 million “floor” that the banks, led by Bank of Nova Scotia, said they wanted.
But, “everyone is convinced that the creditors will take cash in a bid that’s less than the stalking horse bid,” a source close to the sale told the Financial Post. “It’s a matter of time and the question is when.”
While the number of interested bidders is good news for those of us employed by Canwest’s 11 dailies and 35 weeklies — showing that at least some investors think the newspaper industry has a future — we must be careful what we wish for.
Our self-interest is to have a new owner who is committed to the long-term health of the newspapers we work for. And this means investing in quality journalism, which in the long run will be what determines the viability of the entire industry. Citizens, institutions, companies, political parties and especially democracy all require “the news” that we provide better than any other sector of the media.
Sure, it takes more than reporters and editors to produce a paper — at Local 2000 we represent sales people, press operators, mailers, accountants, clerical staff, janitors and others — but we want a new owner who understands quality journalism is our core product. We want a new owner who understands that you get what you pay for in journalism. Gathering the news requires people to spend time talking, reading, interviewing and connecting dots before even beginning to produce a story. Of course, this comes at a price. But the price will be much higher — throwing away your investment — if your plan is to continue chopping costs.
Our newspapers are at a crossroads. We can head in a direction that makes us irrelevant or we can focus on what we know makes us essential — gathering the news — and thrive in the age of changing technology.
I’m cheering for the bidder or bidders who get this.
Gary Engler
Posted in Blog, Canwest |
