TVA: job cuts affect non-union members more, says CUPE
The Quebecor group was forced to make cuts, in particular because of poor results for the subsidiary TVA Sports.
The cuts announced last week by Groupe TVA have begun to take shape. According to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), they would mainly affect executives and non-union members.
We are assessing the damage, said interviewed on Monday Carl Beaudoin, president of the TVA Employees Union – a local of CUPE, which is affiliated with the Quebec Federation of Labor (FTQ).
The TVA Group announced in a press release last Thursday the elimination of 240 positions, including 140 directly at TVA. The others must affect other Quebecor entities that provide services to the company.
Mr. Beaudoin notes that currently 25 unionized positions would be affected. The number is however not final, absolutely not, it is always evolving. There may indeed be positions that were vacant, temporary positions, not to mention the right of bumping that can be exercised between employees.
Obviously, when we heard the announcement of the 240 positions, it was sure that we thought of a carnage. It freaked us out a bit. It's appalling and anyway, a cut, job loss, it's always a concern. But as we speak, we're still assessing the damage. It seems less dramatic than what was originally announced, assesses the president of the CUPE local.
As a union, it's obvious that' x27; we will defend the rights of our members, he said. He hopes that with discussions, he will succeed in transforming these job abolitions, perhaps into cuts in hours; we are working on that level.
According to the information at his disposal, it is mainly non-union members and executives who would be affected. His union represents between 800 and 1,000 workers.
Mr. Beaudoin also deplores that TVA did not inform the union beforehand.
“What is sad in that , is that we learned at the same time as everyone else that the employer was going to set up a reconstruction plan. »
— Carl Beaudoin, President of the TVA Employees Union
The least we could do is that TVA could have warned the union beforehand. We could perhaps have helped at least to do, in quotation marks, some "damage control". I think there is no one better placed than us, with our members who have been in this environment for years, who have the expertise, who could have helped, in partnership with the employer, to try to lessen this reorganization, added Mr. Beaudoin.
Already, the union has learned that the journalist from Baie-Comeau has seen his position abolished. However, it covered the entire greater Côte-Nord region and was attached to CFER Rimouski.
Other expenses will be affected by these cuts, including the service contract for the TVA helicopter and wave transmission trucks, Mr. Beaudoin said.
On the management side, it is reported that managers are currently working to manage these cuts in their budget by sector.
The rationalization of resources will also affect the NumériQ subsidiaries, Quebecor Expertise Media and Quebecor Content.
The TVA Group and Quebecor Content subsidiaries will carry out certain rationalizations while ensuring that they continue their investments in the production and acquisition of entertainment content, says management.
The NumériQ subsidiary, which creates and develops digital strategies for Quebecor, for its subsidiaries and for several external clients, will tighten its activities to prioritize projects the most successful carriers, she adds.
Magazines will also be affected. To compensate for the decline in the Magazines sector, in particular due to the significant reduction in the assistance offered by the Canada Periodical Fund, TVA Publications will reduce the size of its teams, but will continue to produce all of his magazines.
