BY RICK PUSIAK
The lockout at the Sudbury Star has entered its
fourth month with no resolution to the dispute in sight.
Northern Ontario Newspaper Guild Local 30232
spokesperson Denis St. Pierre said management informed the union
through a provincial mediator they do not want to return to the
bargaining table.
When asked whether he believes management is
trying to starve out the union, St. Pierre said if that is the
company?s objective they?re not going to
succeed.
Publisher Ken Seguin denied the company is
unwilling to return to the bargaining table.
Seguin, in fact, said he is unaware where St.
Pierre would have gotten that information.
From what he understands the mediator who has
been recently dealing with the dispute retired, and the files
dealing with the matter went back to the original mediator.
?From what I understand through my
bargaining person I think (the original mediator) did get a hold of
us, and we sort of brought him up to speed on what was going
on,? said Seguin.
?From what I understood he was then
going to call?the union rep?s bargaining person.
He was going to get back to my person and I haven?t heard
back from my person yet?I?m kind of a little
miffed that the union would say we?re not prepared to talk
when we?ve said all along that?that?s
how everything gets resolved, is by discussion.?
The Sudbury Star continues to publish with
management and replacement workers.
?I?ve got myself and my
managers and other people, we?re working very
hard,? said Seguin.
?We?ve been fairly successful
over the four months. Certainly it hasn?t been
easy...?
About a month ago, the locked-out union members
took to staging information pickets outside businesses that
continue to advertise with the daily newspaper. More recently union
members have started going door-to-door to get subscribers to
cancel.
?One thing the company has done is
they?ve decided not to honour the wishes of people who
have cancelled their subscriptions and have been delivering the
paper to these people regardless of whether they?re
willing to pay for it or not,? said St. Pierre.
?They?re willing to give away
free papers apparently?we?re going to be going
door-to-door?making people well aware that this is still a
scab newspaper, this is not a community newspaper any longer and
letting them know they have a right to cancel their subscription
and expect The (Sudbury) Star not to trespass on their property to
bring them the paper they don?t want.?
St. Pierre said the union has learned
subscriptions have dropped by about 3,000. The newspaper says it is
much less.
Seguin is disappointed with the door-to-door
tactic.
?This dispute is going to end
sometime,? said the publisher. ?The door-to-door
tactic is not very productive.?
Meanwhile, a hearing may be held next month to
deal with an unfair labour practice charge filed by the company
against the locked-out labour organizations.
The daily newspaper submitted an 11-page claim to
the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) in November.
A key issue in the claim is the money workers are
receiving from their unions while locked out.
Management says the pay stifles any incentive for
the unions to return to the bargaining table.
The union has until Jan. 17 to respond to the
company claim. A labour relations officer is expected to sit down
informally with both sides in the near future in Sudbury.
If the matter can?t be resolved it will
go to the hearing stage.
More than half of the locked out employees,
reporters and office workers, including advertising salespeople,
are getting $450 tax free every week. Nine locked out pressmen who
belong to another locked out union in the dispute are receiving
$175 per week.
Part-time mail room employees get $250 per
week.
Guild members are taking money out of their own
pockets and making donations to help the pressmen survive.
The last contract offer from the company
presented in late November was a four-year pact that included a
short-term guarantee of no layoffs and wage increases of 2.5, 2, 2
and 3 per cent.
The union is still hanging on for a long-term no
layoff guarantee.
About 70 workers are locked out. A small local
involving about half a dozen people voted to go back to work early
on in the dispute.
There are four different bargaining units with
four different collective agreements at the city?s daily
newspaper.
The unionized workers are represented by two
national organizations, the Newspaper Guild Canada and the Graphic
Communications International Union which negotiate collectively as
a joint council.
Toronto-based Osprey Media Group Inc. owns the
Sudbury Star.