Here’s what we can do
We can do what groups of workers have always done. We can stand together. We can collectively say “no” to crappy rates and unfair rights demands. Only by working together can we hope to reverse the long-established downward trends in our businesses. Only by working together can we build services like benefits plans and legal support programs.
The CFU is a child of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union. The CEP is one of Canada’s largest unions, with over 160,000 members across the country. The CEP is also Canada’s largest media union, with over 25,000 workers already part of the organization. It is this existing strength that the CFU hopes to build on.
How are we doing it?
A union’s strength comes from its members. Ideally, we need to get all independent media workers inside our tent. This will take time and effort, but most of all, it will require that freelancers see that there is a benefit to joining the union.
This is why I, and the other interim CFU leaders, are taking a “field of dreams” approach: Build it, and they will come. We are putting in place a slate of valuable services, such as legal support and benefits plans, so that the members have a reason to join. As our membership grows, so too does our clout at the negotiating table.
But we are not waiting for that glory day to arrive when have our first collective agreement. We are already partnering with existing media locals (unions) within the CEP, to bring our issues to the table.
In the last year our local – Local 2040 – has been put on the negotiating table by our CEP brethren. As part of two major contract negotiations, one with Torstar in Toronto, and the other at the Pacific Press in Vancouver, Locals 87-M (SONG) and Local 2000 have tried to get language in existing media contracts that would force employers to use CFU members for freelance work.
In both cases the companies refused – but notice has been given. They know we are here, and they know we will be back at the next round of talks. This is how progress happens, one painful step at a time. But it is also an example of the strength of working within a large existing union like the CEP.
The strength of a union comes in numbers. Check out our website: www.CFUnion.ca, and join the cause.