Category Archives: cwa canada

Carmel Smyth wins race to lead CWA Canada

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23.06.23

Carmel Smyth has been declared winner of the national election to determine the next leader of CWA Canada.

She garnered 469 votes while 349 went to challenger Meredith Martin, in the contest to replace outgoing President Martin O’Hanlon.

Lois Kirkup, who was acclaimed, continues in the post of vice-president for another four-year term. She is a longtime member and president of the Ottawa Newspaper Guild.

Said a victorious Smyth: “As we know, the media industry faces many challenges, and we have to be vigilant about having our voices and lived experiences included in the conversation. I will work hard to deserve your support.”

Smyth and Kirkup will be sworn in at the CWA Convention July 10-12 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Matt Skube, Hayley Juhl and Nigel Sones form the National Elections Committee, which conducted the country-wide vote, with Locals choosing the method, either in-plant, electronic or mail-in ballot.

The committee reported that it received at least one vote from every Local across the country. Two Locals conducted their vote electronically, one did an on-site vote and the others used mail-in ballots, none of which was spoiled.

Smyth, a journalist with 25 years of experience in private and public broadcasting, was president of the Canadian Media Guild (Local 30213) for nine years.

Martin, a producer/journalist with 20 years of experience at Ontario’s public broadcaster, was recently elected president of the Canadian Media Guild’s TVO branch.

Kirkup and O’Hanlon were first elected to the two top positions in a national vote in 2011.

O’Hanlon has been in the leadership ranks since the union’s inception as TNG Canada/CWA in 1995.

Creative Arts Financial, a credit union that provides mortgages, loans and financial services to arts and media workers

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Aug. 11, 2021

 

Dear CWA Canada members in Ontario,

If you’re looking for an alternative to the Big Banks with their big fees and bigger profits, while at the same time helping the union and workers in the creative arts and media, please continue reading.

CWA Canada, along with several other unions, is supporting a new entity, Creative Arts Financial, a credit union that provides mortgages, loans and financial services to arts and media workers – many of whom can’t get bank loans due to the precarious nature of their work.

As part of the arrangement, CWA Canada sits on the Advisory Board of Creative Arts Financial and gets a small share of any profits – money that can be used to serve you and your Local. But more importantly, we are supporting an institution that supports workers in our industry, including freelancers and part-timers.

As stakeholders with Creative Arts Financial, our members get special access to lower rates, special discounts and personalized services:

  • Open an account with direct deposit or bill payments and get $100 – plus a matching $100 donation to Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE).
  • Special mortgage and loan discounts, bonus rates on term deposits, affordable insurance, personal financial advice, and many other benefits (see brochure.)
  • Free access to thousands of ATMs across Canada

Please see the attached brochure and Q&A and consider signing up!

In solidarity,

Martin

Martin O’Hanlon
President, CWA Canada
The Media Union

 

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Labour Day Message from CWA Canada President Martin O’Hanlon

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Sept. 4, 2020

Dear fellow CWA Canada members,

For the first time in memory, we will not be marching this Labour Day.

But we will not be silent.

As we mourn our fellow media workers and the many others who have lost their lives due to the pandemic, we will pay tribute to those who continue to provide vital news and information, often risking their own health to do so.

We will shout to defend quality jobs, quality journalism, a vibrant free press, a strong, independent labour movement and to demand racial, economic and social equality.

Unfortunately, many regimes around the world are using the pandemic as yet another excuse to crack down of press freedom, labour unions, and democracy.

And the struggle for equality continues, reinvigorated by the Black Lives Matter movement.

This Labour Day, we vow to keep up the fight against injustice of all kinds:

 

  • We will publicly call out governments and bad actors to embarrass them into behaving better.
  • We will use social media to educate and rally the public by sharing information about fake news, disinformation, and hate, while promoting trusted, reliable news sources.
  • We will support Black Lives Matter and other movements fighting for equality.
  • And we will push for sanctions against leaders and politicians around the world who attack press freedom — block key politicians and officials from travelling abroad and seize their foreign assets and see how quickly things change.

This weekend, please stand with us, pledge your support in the fight for justice, and take a moment to think about what you can do to help.