Canadian Media Guild and MBS reach tentative agreement

Radio workers could be back on the job by June 16

After nearly two years of striking and a recent lockout, bargainers for the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) and Maritime Broadcasting System (MBS) Limited reached a tentative four-year agreement.

Under the terms of the agreement — reached with the assistance of Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services — radio station employees in Saint John, N.B., will be back on the job as of June 16.

The seven on-air and support staff covered under the agreement joined CMG in the spring of 2011 and began talks with MBS to sign their first collective agreement. After almost a year of failed negotiations the employees — working at the Big John FM, K-100 and CFBC stations — began labour action.

When the union officially ended the strike on May 12, 2014, MBS informed the workers — known in the media as the Saint John Seven — they would be locked out and not permitted to return to work without a collective agreement.

The terms of the tentative agreement include language on job security, scheduling and provisions for dealing with dispute resolution. The deal also includes a signing bonus and new wage scales.

In a statement CMG said it hopes this agreement marks the beginning of an “orderly and harmonious relationship” between the two parties.

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