The CWA Convention, and Canadian Locals in attendance, voted overwhelmingly today against a proposal to eliminate proxy voting. So, as per the CWA Constitution, all Locals with less than 200 members will still be allowed to proxy their votes.
Postmedia loss deepens
Source: theglobeandmail.com
Losses deepened at Postmedia Network Canada Corp. in the last quarter, as national and classified advertising in its newspapers continued to decline.
The publisher –which owns such big-city metros such as the Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette and Calgary Herald in addition to the National Post – said it lost $14.2-million in its second quarter, compared with $11.1-million a year ago.
Click here to read the entire story
High School Grads – Apply for the Dreams of Jobs and Freedom Scholarship
Union Privilege and the AFL-CIO have announced a new scholarship program to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. The one-time, $5,000 scholarships are for study for the academic year beginning in the fall of 2013 through summer 2014. They will be awarded to at least 50 talented high school seniors to help pay for the costs of higher education.
On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his “I Have a Dream” speech as part of that historic March on Washington. This scholarship program honors the legacy of Dr. King’s speech and his dream that all of America’s children could have equal access and equal opportunity.
An application, including an essay, is required. The application deadline is July 1, 2013. For more information and to apply online, click here
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.
CWA/NETT offers up scholarship to CWA members
From tuition costs to books to exam fees, we know that career training doesn’t come cheap.
So CWA/NETT Academy is here to help.
Over the next year, we’ll be awarding up to 50 academic scholarships to CWA members looking to develop new skills and advance their careers.
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.
Ontario Labour News
The Ontario Federation of Labour is taking another leap forward and we are updating all of our membership, activist and follower email lists into a new, integrated email update system.
Our new system will mean a much smoother and more user-friendly experience for you that will put an end to duplicate emails that clutter your inbox. It will also mean that campaign links, images and social media tools can be better integrated into our Ontario Labour News updates.
It is all a part of our effort to build a more informed, nimble and responsive mobilization network to drive a progressive agenda in Ontario.
But we need your help.
We need you to reach into your membership and networks to encourage every labour and community activist to visit the new OFL website and sign-up for updates. Otherwise, simply forward your activist lists to the OFL. This will help us connect them in to our Eblast system to create a provincial network of activists who are ready to mobilize around our collective campaigns.
Stay tuned to our website at www.OFL.ca for updates and help promote the work of Ontario’s labour movement through social media:
• LIKE & SHARE the OFL on Facebook OFLabour
• FOLLOW & RETWEET the OFL on Twitter @OFLabour
• FOLLOW & RETWEET me on Twitter at @SidRyan_OFL
In the new year, I look forward seeing you online and on the streets … fighting for a more just and equitable Ontario.
In solidarity,
Sid Ryan
President, Ontario Federation of Labour