Settlement 15 months after bankruptcy
Fifteen months after more than 100 workers at Hamilton TV station CHCH lost their jobs with no notice and no severance, Unifor reached a deal March 27 to compensate those workers.
"Today's deal means some justice for these dedicated workers," said Jerry Dias, Unifor president. "The challenges facing the broadcast industry as a whole, however, continue."
Under the mediated settlement, the station will pay out $1 million in severance and general damages for workers denied such payments after the December 2015 job cuts, and recognizes Unifor as the sole bargaining agent for the remaining staff at CHCH, according to the union.
"Without a union, these workers still would have received nothing," said Liz Marzari, Unifor national representative. "Without today's deal, they could be months or years from seeing any settlement."
The agreement between the union and the employer was reached 15 months after Channel 11 LP declared bankruptcy and 100 CHCH staff members lost their jobs with no notice and no severance. Local programming was slashed from 80 hours a week down to 17.5, said Unifor.
