Transcontinental Media squeezing freelancers: why this matters to us all

Source  CMG  •  POSTED ON  February 20, 2013

Transcontinental Media, publisher of magazines such as Elle Canada and The Hockey News as well as dozens of community newspapers across the country, is trying to impose a harsh new contract on freelancers. The conditions Transcontinental is seeking undermine everyone in the sector.

Transcontinental wants the same rights it gets for the work of employees and highly-paid contractors. The catch? It wants to keep paying low editorial freelance rates.

Freelancers are being asked to sign over all rights to the pieces they contribute, on all platforms and all brands the company owns, in all countries, forever. Transcontinental is also seeking the right to change the work in any way it wants and either leave the freelancer’s byline off – or, perhaps worse, leave it on.

Please spread the word about this – especially if you know anyone who freelances for Transcontinental. The Guild is organizing with fed-up freelancers to fix the contract. Write to Keith Maskell (keith@cmg.ca).

There’s more to this story, which you can find on Story Board here.

Deadline for the CAJ-CWA Canada Labour Reporting award has been extended to Feb. 8.

The Canadian Association of Journalists runs an annual awards program recognizing the best in Canadian journalism, with a particular focus on journalism that is investigative in nature. Entries are welcome from any practising journalist whose work has been published or broadcast in Canada. A call for entries is usually issued in December-January, with a deadline in late January or early February. Once judging is complete, a list of the finalists in each category is released. The winning entry in each category is announced as part of the banquet during the annual conference each spring. For more information on the categories and lists of previous winners. Please click this link for more information about this award.

Canadian Media Guild seeks full-time office co-ordinator

The Canadian Media Guild (CMG) is seeking a bilingual receptionist / office co-ordinator to work at the union’s national headquarters in Toronto. Deadline for applications is Feb. 22.

This is a full-time, unionized position with a starting salary of $61,000.

The successful candidate will have strong organizational, computer and web skills, be able to work independently and manage a complex filing system. Knowledge and understanding of union and labour issues and/or a legal background are assets.

Duties include providing administrative support to the executive and committees, answering phones and booking travel.

Wages and benefits are set according to the provisions of the Canadian Media Guild Employees Union collective agreement. The CMG is an equal opportunity employer.

Applicants are to email a cover letter and resume to: hiringcommittee@cmg.ca .

The CMG is CWA Canada’s largest Local, with 6,000 members who work at the CBC, The Canadian Press, Reuters, Agence France-Press, TVO, TFO, APTN, ZoomerMedia, Shaw Media and an assortment of radio stations.