Building

After an 8 week lockout, CBC's negotiations team and upper management accomplished nothing that they could not have accomplished on August 14th. Regardless of whether you believe in the leadership of Rabinovich, Stursburg, Smith, & co., or not; One thing is undeniable, when the 'troops' loose faith in their 'leaders' it is easier to replace the generals than the entire army. So, it is my opinion that, for the good of the CBC and to improve it's chances going forward that CBC's top brass should go.

That said, while I understand the anger and resentment toward these people, there is something that I do not understand. Since the 'agreement in principle' was reached on October 3rd, anger at so called 'middle management' seems to have increased. I have heard of a few (only a few) instances where specific lower-level managers acted in ways that deserve such anger. For the most part I firmly believe that middle-management was, throughout this, kept in the dark about what was going on. They did not ask for a lockout, they were not consulted, and did not get a vote.

The CBC is in a critical phase, there is alot of damage to repair and I believe that anger and hostility toward front line supervisors and others in middle management is counterproductive. We will need the help of these people to right the ship. I would urge people who really, deeply believe in the CBC and it's mission to focus on the feelings of teamwork and solidarity that we have experienced these last 8 weeks and to try to share that with 'middle-management'. If that spirit becomes the dominant one inside the building the CBC can become stronger than it has ever been and we can, hopefully, avoid repeating the lock out come 2009.

A divided workplace will not improve the CBCs long term chances and the fate of the CBC is tied directly to the fate of the CMG and it's members. By all means, stay involved, urge Parliament to give the CBC stable and increased funding, urge them to insure the Board of Directors has the kind of people on it who can lead the CBC into a brighter future, urge the board to appoint the kind of leadership that can help build and nurture that future. Retain your anger at those responsible, hopefully they will be held accountable, but avoid misdirecting your anger at people who were not responsible.

Not over yet, by a long-shot

The lock out may be coming to a close, but the underlying causes of the lock-out remain. We need a better run, better funded, ideally commercial free, public broadcaster dedicated, almost exclusively if not entirely, to Canadian Content - Canadian national and regional news, arts and entertainment, comedy and drama - online, on tv and radio and on demand. The CBC needs to be more connected to and interactive with the public, the people who pay the taxes to fund the CBC and who will be asked to give even more.

Connections must be made with younger people and, I hope, that by going commercial free that the CBC can achieve that: People, especially younger people, are distrustful of corporations and government: If the CBC is ad free then we can present the company as free of corporate influence. If changes are made to CBCs funding structure and if provisions are put in place to preempt further labour conflicts (such as an automatic trip to binding arbitration if agreement cannot be reached within 14 days of the expiry of a contract) and if some type of parliamentary vetting process can be put in place for nominations to the board - such as public disclosure of their qualifications followed by ratification by parliament then the CBC can sell itself as free of direct Government influence. If the CBC is seen as independent of Government and corporations, and then presents a variety of views from a variety of people in a variety of locations then the CBC can be sold to a generation (actually a few generations now) of cynics as reliable.

As much conflict as there has been between CBC Management, the CMG and even members of parliament it is the Canadian people who own the CBC and they need to be reminded of that and given a product they can take great pride in owning and that they find useful to their daily lives - from coast to coast to coast and across the boundaries of age, region, gender, culture, religion, and politics.

The lockout is coming to a close, but the work is just beginning.

This blog is just not ending. I may not post as frequently for the next little while, I have work to do as the lockout ends, and PublicBroadcasting.ca is under heavy construction. But, here too - the battle is won, but the fight goes on.

Congratulations!

An agreement in principle has been reached between CMG and CBC management. I know it's not completely over yet, but before people begin to drift away and get back into work mode...

To the employees of the CBC and members of CMG - Congratulations! At first glance anyway, CMG appears to have won on every point (although I haven't heard anything re: layoff/recall yet) and Rabinovich & Co. are still expected to have to explain themselves to the Heritage Committee.

To all the people I've met, talked with and emailed since this started thanks for putting the silver lining to all of this: I've met and talked with alot of great people who I might otherwise never have encountered.

To all the bloggers and podcasters : You already know, but I'll say it anyway - you've rewritten the playbook for a labour dispute.

To all the viewers, listeners, organizations and other unions who have come out to support the CMG, your support is what turned the tide

To APS/Middle Management while I've heard a few stories about 'managers behaving badly' anyone with anything to answer for already knows. But generally what I want to say is peace you didn't cause it, you didn't have any of say in it, and CMG and APS are going to have to work hard and in concert to put CBC back together.

As for me , personally, it's back to my normal state of limbo. I haven't heard how/if this impacts casuals, but my guess is 'not much' and that there will again be many weeks where my CBC pay doesn't equal the strike pay I'm getting now. If anyone has a better alternative to this I'm all ears.

PublicBroadcasting.ca is still going ahead, the account hasn't been activated yet, but if you're interested in contributing anything, or have suggestions (even if you don't have the time/inclination to work on it yourself) let me know.