Locked-out CBC Workers turn to Campus-Community Radio

23 August 2005 For Immediate Release
Contact: Frieda Werden (604)291-4423, cjsfpa@sfu.ca

Locked-out Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Workers turn to
Campus-Community Radio

The aims of campus-community radio stations include giving voice to
the voiceless, and this week the numbers of the voiceless grew.

Cut off from their CBC company telephones, emails, and airtime by
management decree, the locked-out technical and production workers of
the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) turned to alternative media to get the
word out. "CBC Unplugged from Studio Zero" was produced literally on
the street outside the CBC building in Vancouver, by people
accustomed to rather adequate media conditions. Using personal
recorders, laptops, internet, and hand-delivered CDs, they donated
their labour to community radio, and to their own cause.

Among the highlights was Bill Richardson's well-modulated statement
that he is "pissed off" by the treatment he's receiving, including
hearing his own voice scabbing in re-broadcast programs, while he's
on the sidewalk with a picket sign around his neck. Richardson said
he had always continued to work during strike actions during the past
fifteen years, and his loyalty to the network now counts for nothing.

Pierre Claveau from the CMG, interviewed by Miyoung Lee [from The
Early Edition] stated the union's position that they will not sign a
contract allowing management to hire only temporary-contract workers
and no new permanent workers in all job classifications. The CMG is
a new union for the CBC; formerly, technical and content workers were
represented by separate unions, and Claveau says negotiations on
melding the contracts were stalled by management inflexibility on the
temp issue.

Guests on "CBC Unplugged" plugged a number of web sites for more
information about the lockout. The site HYPERLINK
"http://www.cmgvancouver.org" www.cmgvancouver.org has a podcast
download of the program; HYPERLINK "http://www.iloveradio.org"
www.iloveradio.org has links to many blogs about the labour stuggle,
including one from an anonymous manager's point of view.

(page 1 of 2)
CBC on CCR, continued
(page 2 of 2)

Elsewhere in the hour, musicians queued up to donate their voices to
"CBC Unplugged," and workers paused in their duties to play a game of
street hockey by the library across the street. Listeners expressed
opinions of the programming being aired on CBC right now - mostly,
but not all negative. Aside from reruns, the CBC has had management
staff flown to Toronto to revive old skills and wrestle with new
equipment and produce the news.

"CBC Unplugged" was aired Tuesday, August 23, on three community
stations in the Lower Mainland: CJSF-FM, Burnaby, and CFRO and CITR
FM stations in Vancouver, as well as stations in Fort Smith Northwest
Territories and Lethbridge Alberta. The show is being made available
to other stations around the country and around the world through the
internet. Coordinator of the project JJ Lee told CJSF that this
first program could be considered "a pilot," but was not prepared to
say if or when more would be forthcoming.

CBC units in other cities are also doing collaborations with
campus-community radio. At CKUW in Winnipeg, CBC staffers are
co-hosting the news with station volunteers, producing stories, and
running training workshops. The University of Calgary student
station is giving an hour a week during a time slot called Local
Revolutions, for a dozen locked-out CBC workers to produce their own
show. Jane McCullough, program director there, cites a long
relationship, with CBC producers training campus producers, and
graduates of the campus station moving on to produce for CBC. CKDU
in Halifax is another participating station.

CBC Unplugged from Studio Zero will re-air, along with other coverage
of the lockout, on CJSF-FM, 90.1, Burnaby and Vancouver, on Thursday
August 25, from 4 to 5:30 pm.

#30#

Contact: Frieda Werden, HYPERLINK "mailto:cjsfpa@sfu.ca"
cjsfpa@sfu.ca (604)876-6994

Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 13:45:34 -0700
Reply-To: "Spoken Word CJSF (Frieda Werden)" <cjsfpa@sfu.ca>
Organization: CJSF Radio
Subject: Release: Campus-Community Radio and the CBC
From: "Spoken Word CJSF (Frieda Werden)" <cjsfpa@sfu.ca>
To: cjsf-progpr@sfu.ca, cjsf-pressreleases@sfu.ca,
rueger@community-media.com
Sender: owner-ncra@ncra.ca

"CBC Unplugged from Studio Zero" will be re-aired by popular demand on
CJSF-FM on Thursday, 25 August, 4 to 5 pm.

I've attached a story about the experiment, which you may freely use or
excerpt.

Frieda Werden, Spoken Word Coordinator
CJSF Radio
TC-216 Simon Fraser University
Burnaby BC V5A 1S6, Canada
(604)291-4423 phone
fax: (604)291-3695
e-mail: cjsfpa@sfu.ca
90.1 FM
93.9 cable radio
www.cjsf.bc.ca - streaming on the web

23 August 2005 For Immediate
Release
Contact: Frieda Werden (604)291-4423, cjsfpa@sfu.ca

Locked-out CBC Workers turn to Campus-Community Radio

The aims of campus-community radio stations include giving voice to the
voiceless, and this week the numbers of the voiceless grew.

Cut off from their CBC company telephones, emails, and airtime by management
decree, the locked-out technical and production workers of the Canadian
Media Guild (CMG) turned to alternative media to get the word out. “CBC
Unplugged from Studio Zero” was produced literally on the street outside the
CBC building in Vancouver, by people accustomed to rather adequate media
conditions. Using personal recorders, laptops, internet, and hand-delivered
CDs, they donated their labour to community radio, and to their own cause.

Among the highlights was Bill Richardson’s well-modulated statement that he
is “pissed off” by the treatment he’s receiving, including hearing his own
voice scabbing in re-broadcast programs, while he’s on the sidewalk with a
picket sign around his neck. Richardson said he had always continued to
work during strike actions during the past fifteen years, and his loyalty to
the network now counts for nothing.

Pierre Claveau from the CMG,interviewed by Miyoung Lee [from The Early
Edition] stated the union’s position that they will not sign a contract
allowing management to hire only temporary-contract workers and no new
permanent workers in all job classifications. The CMG is a new union for
the CBC; formerly, technical and content workers were represented by
separate unions, and Claveau says negotiations on melding the contracts were
stalled by management inflexibility on the temp issue.

Guests on “CBC Unplugged” plugged a number of web sites for more information
about the lockout. The site www.cmgvancouver.org has a podcast download of
the program; www.iloveradio.org has links to many blogs about the labour
stuggle, including one from an anonymous manager’s point of view.

Elsewhere in the hour, musicians queued up to donate their voices to “CBC
Unplugged,” and workers paused in their duties to play a game of street
hockey by the library across the street. Listeners expressed opinions of the
programming being aired on CBC right now – mostly, but not all negative.
Aside from reruns, the CBC has had management staff flown to Toronto to
revive old skills and wrestle with new equipment and produce the news.

“CBC Unplugged” was aired Tuesday, August 23, on three community stations in
the Lower Mainland: CJSF-FM, Burnaby, and CFRO and CITR FM stations in
Vancouver, as well as stations in Fort Smith Northwest Territories and
Lethbridge Alberta. The show is being made available to other stations
around the country and around the world through the internet. Coordinator
of the project JJ Lee told CJSF that this first program could be considered
“a pilot,” but was not prepared to say if or when more would be forthcoming.

CBC units in other cities are also doing collaborations with
campus-community radio. At CKUW in Winnipeg, CBC staffers are co-hosting the
news with station volunteers, producing stories, and running training
workshops. The University of Calgary student station is giving an hour a
week during a time slot called Local Revolutions, for a dozen locked-out CBC
workers to produce their own show. Jane McCullough, program director there,
cites a long relationship, with CBC producers training campus producers, and
graduates of the campus station moving on to produce for CBC. CKDU in
Halifax is another participating station.

CBC Unplugged from Studio Zero will re-air, along with other coverage of the
lockout, on CJSF-FM, 90.1, Burnaby and Vancouver, on Thursday August 25,
from 4 to 5:30 pm.

#30#

Contact: Frieda Werden, cjsfpa@sfu.ca (604)876-6994