Joe Beirne Scholarship Application Reminder
This is a reminder that applications are now being accepted through April 30, 2014, for the CWA Joe Beirne Foundation’s annual scholarship offerings for the 2014-2015 school year.
The Foundation’s Board of Directors has approved the awarding of fifteen (15) partial college scholarships of up to $3,000 each, and the winners also will receive second-year scholarships for the same amount, contingent upon satisfactory academic achievement.
Eligible for the scholarships are CWA members, their spouses, children and grandchildren, including the dependents of retired, laid-off, or deceased members. Applicants must be high school graduates or high school students who will graduate during the year in which they apply. Undergraduate and graduate students returning to school may also apply.
Applications will be available solely online for completion and submission to the Foundation’s website: http://www.cwa-union.org/pages/beirne_scholarship_application
Below is a downloadable poster that you can distribute to members and post on local websites to encourage participation. The winners will be chosen by lottery drawing. Further information about the program can be found at the website.
This valuable scholarship program is made possible by the funding of CWA locals. For those locals not yet participating in funding the Beirne scholarships, I urge you to do so. Financial arrangements can be made to accommodate your local’s needs. For more information and assistance, please call 202.434.1187.
In Unity,
Larry Cohen
President
Postmedia and union talks break down over contracting out of printing
Source: thetyee.ca
Talks between the company that publishes the Vancouver Sun and Province and the union that represents their workers broke down after two days of negotiations earlier this month over contracting out of the printing of both newspapers.
That increases the likelihood of a labour dispute in a year’s time over Pacific Newspaper Group’s plan to have outside companies handle the printing.
“They can lock us out or we can go on strike,” said Unifor Local 2000 vice-president Gary Engler. “Of course, we have the right to picket and all of those sorts of things.”
Postmedia Network recently announced it will sell the Surrey property where its printing plant is located and either contract out the printing or build a new plant that would require fewer workers. The company imposed a Nov. 18 deadline for an agreement to be reached on staffing levels for a new plant, but a Unifor release called the company’s demands “too extreme” for the union to accept.
“Among other conditions, the company insists on the right to choose from among our current members as to who would be able to work at a new plant,” it stated. “It was estimated that only about one-quarter of our current Kennedy Heights members would be asked to work at the new facility.”
The union also claims the company offered far less severance pay for displaced press operators than it has offered its editorial and business staff under a Voluntary Staff Reduction Plan.
The collective agreement between Unifor and Postmedia’s subsidiary Pacific Newspaper Group expires on Nov. 30, 2014. Engler said the company suggested more talks in January, but the Unifor release called agreement “highly unlikely.” PNG announced it has already contracted with Transcontinental Printing to handle printing in the event that agreement cannot be reached with Unifor on staffing levels for a new plant.
Engler said the recent talks revealed that only the Sun would be printed at Transcontinental’s plant on Annacis Island, however, with another printing company handling the Province. The current collective agreement prevents contracting out, and its provisions would be extended under the B.C. Labour Code in the event of a strike or lockout.
“We know where the printing is going,” noted Engler. “Transcontinental is unionized as well. Where the Province is going is a non-union plant.”
Meanwhile, another large U.S. hedge fund has acquired a major ownership interest in Postmedia. Silver Point Capital recently bought a 19 per cent stake in the company, which makes it the second largest owner of Postmedia behind New York-based GoldenTree Asset Management, which owns about 35 per cent.
Canada’s largest chain of dailies, which was founded in the 19 century by the Southam family, was bought out of the bankruptcy of Canwest Global Communications in 2010 by a group of its creditors, with financial backing from several U.S. hedge funds.
Vancouver journalist Marc Edge is a frequent contributor to The Tyee.
– See more at: http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/2013/11/26/Postmedia-Union-Talks/#sthash.4D7Zafpj.dpuf
Labour Community Services Coordinator – Job Posting
Relief efforts underway in the Philippines
Relief efforts are underway in the Philippines after Friday’s massive typhoon, with some analysts calling it the most powerful storm to ever make landfall. Thousands may be dead, and homes, businesses and infrastructure are lying in ruin.
Your help is urgently needed. Through our partnership with OXFAM Canada, you can make a donation earmarked for Typhoon Haiyan relief that qualifies for a matching contribution from the Canadian government. Click here to make your donation now.
OXFAM’s workers on the ground in the Philippines are ready to deliver water and sanitation material to where it is most needed. Your donation will help deliver the relief where it is needed most. Union members have always delivered when we’ve asked, and you’ve always made us proud.
Click here to make your donation. The Canadian government is matching individual donations until December 9, 2013.
Les secours ont été déployés aux Philippines après le passage vendredi dernier d’un typhon dévastateur, que certains analystes ont qualifié comme la plus puissante tempête qui ait jamais touché terre. On craint des milliers de morts, et les maisons, les entreprises et l’infrastructure sont en ruine.
Votre aide est nécessaire de toute urgence. Grâce à notre partenariat avec OXFAM Canada, vous pouvez verser un don en aide aux victimes du typhon Haiyan qui sera égalé par une contribution du gouvernement du Canada. Cliquez ici pour verser votre don maintenant.
Les employés d’OXFAM sur place aux Philippines sont prêts à fournir de l’eau et de l’équipement d’assainissement là où les besoins sont les plus grands. Votre don contribuera à offrir de l’aide là où elle est la plus nécessaire. Les membres de syndicats ont toujours répondu positivement à nos demandes d’aide, et nous en sommes très fiers.
Cliquez ici pour verser votre don. Le gouvernement du Canada égalera les dons versés par les particuliers jusqu’au 9 décembre 2013.