Friday

"Such a lovely place, such a lovely face..."

A friend who (regrettably) listened to Manager CBC radio quite a bit during the lockout was wondering about an apparently new country in Africa....at least according to the newsreader...the new place is named "Tan-zania".

Anybody else hear any similar pronunciation innovations?

Played golf while on the CBC dime today....that fact much more satisfying than the game itself.


GOOD NIGHT NOW!!!!

Thursday

"And she said, we are all just prisoners here of our own device..."

Ratification vote today....big turnout, I expect the deal will pass. I sympathize with some of our technical colleagues who have lost some things like turn around and double time for overtime after 12 hours. But look on the positive side, if we enforce this new contract, these things won't come up, you won't have quick turn-arounds, you won't have to work more than 12 hours a day.
I'm very impressed with our negotiating team to not only get us back on the payroll tomorrow, but to also get us paid for the stat on Monday, very slick! It is of course a small consolation for the thousands of dollars we've lost because of this uncessary lockout but even this little victory feels good!
On another note, I will not be removing anything from this blog, even though the return to work agreement "encourages" me to do so. It's history. We report it every day. We don't change it to suit us, or leave out the nasty icky bits....this is the way I felt, this is what people I talked to said...that's the way it happened, warts and all.

A manager told me, when I asked what impact this would have on interpersonal relations, told me, "The people who didn't like you will still not like you, and unfortunately some of those who did like you may not like you anymore either, but those who liked you before, will probably still like you."
While I hope the corollory is true too, I think relations between staff and managment have irrevocably changed forever and all the pizza and cake in the world won't change it. This hasn't been "just business" it has been intensly personal and simply purging the evidence won't change that.....

GOOD NIGHT NOW!!!!

Tuesday

"Last thing I remember, I was running for the door.
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before.
"Relax," said the nightman. "We are programmed to recieve.
You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.""


It seems today is the day for sign-offs. Many bloggers, including The Man himself, Tod Maffin, are going off the grid.
Most of the blogs were started by the lockout and now the lockout is over, so is the reason for their existances.
Me. I'm torn. This has taken more than I expected. But it has also been more than worthwhile. People on the line say they read it, people elsewhere say they read it, some even reply which is a huge rush.
But should this continue? Has it served its purpose? Which, in case you haven't guessed was allow me to pontificate and prognosticate, get some stuff off my chest and hopefully be voice from Calgary. If you want more, lemme know.

I can't tell you how impressed I've been with all my colleagues in Calgary, particularly Michael Arnault, the location president. He voluntarily took on what has always been thankless job when no one else wanted it last spring.
He quickly became the glue, the fixer, the doer and, dare I say it, the agent provocateur of our merry band of locked-outees.

That's it.

GOOD NIGHT NOW!!!!!!

Monday

"Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air..."

Much hugging and congratulations on the line today, only slightly dampened by the snow!
Peter Mansbridge, en route to Vancouver dropped by with words of encouragement and, like me, with a bit of wonder in his voice.
Here's a here-to-fore disparate bunch of egos, free-thinkers and looney-tunes that is somehow united into a powerful, cohesive and strong-willed workforce in only seven weeks.
Peter spoke of the Caravan tour, the TBC concerts and bake-sales and of course of the podcasts, websites and blogs that EVERY location did.
Of how we on the picket lines got to put faces to names...of finding out who that person we nod to in the hall every day really is....and the stories while walking around the line!...loves lost and found...adventures at home and abroad...past lives...future plans.
And of how he (Peter) had predicted this wouldn't end until the snow was flying! (which it was, a least this morning in Calgary!) Who says he's just a pretty face!
Oh there was some dissention...the money wasn't right, what about the bumping rights, the temp/casual conversion to staff still had loopholes (albeit smaller than the previous loopholes).
I expect the ratification vote will be held over several days at weeks' end.
A meeting is being set up at the Elks Friday night at 7pm for a palaver with a member of the negotiating committee.
We could be back on the job Monday.


This is such a great opportunity to get it right this time, to get people in charge who know not just public broadcasting, but media communication in general.
I think the past month and a half shows there are plenty of folks, most of whom have been walking outside CBC, that know exactly how to do that.

Full up concerts with professional sound and digitally recorded from concept to execution in three days.
TV Drama/Comedy written, cast, shot, editied and distributed on the web in a week....with sequels!
Daily current affairs programs done remotely including acquiring studio and airtime in hours!

God help us all if what we go back to is the same as what we left behind.

GOOD NIGHT NOW!!!

Sunday

"There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell..."

It seems obvious that many of these blogs are being read and in some cases replied to by CBC managers of all levels.
As a correspondent opined yesterday, what would be the repercussions of these missives? Especially to those of us who have chosen not to use "anonymous".
Know what....don't care. My hope is that those in the corner office will at last see and hear exactly how widespread the disappointment, the distrust, and the disbelief is in the leadership of the CBC.
That anonymous button has given a large number of our colleagues the freedom to really speak of their hopes, dreams and more importantly their fears and frustrations about the CBC with the knowledge that those who can actually make a difference are receiving it unfiltered.
It's not about "vision" and I'm sorry it's not about the institution of public broadcasting. It's about enjoying going to work, it's about having fun with the people you work with, it's about having an acquaintance say that program sucks/is terrrific. And increasingly it's about doing all this with the millstone of mismanagment slung around our necks.
Forget the retreats, the surveys and the all-staff townhalls....read the blogs to find out what's wrong with the CBC, how it can be fixed and who is able and willing do the fixing!

(damn yankees, go sox)


GOOD MORNING NOW!!!!

Saturday

"And still those voices are calling from far away..."

There is much optimism on this wet, blustery day in Calgary. Many believe the 48 hr. blackout means something is close. Surely Fontana saying Canadians deserve full-time, permanent jobs must be resounding somewhere in the Fort.
And that the contract/temp/casual situation is a battle that can no longer be won.
The fact a well-placed manager made a friendly and cordial visit to the line yesterday also sends a message.
"Ah but beware of Trojans bearing gifts", say some.
"Don't be fooled by the sheep's clothing, remember there're wolves under there."
"Consider the pickle, and think, what else to do with cucumbers."
(OK,I made that last one up, but you get the drift)

I hate to say it but while I'm encouraged, I think there's some distance yet to go. The CMG's offer and the CBC's last offer are so far apart, I don't know how or what sort of compromise can be made that will save "face" for either side.
I'd be surprised if something comes down before hockey begins.
All I know is I've been forced out for 8 weeks and it won't be for nothing. This wasn't my idea, and certainly it wasn't my union's idea.
Has this all been a ploy to force Ottawa to grant stable, long term funding?
Or is this a cruel tactic by which the employees fund their employer....Kinda like paying for parking spots on CBC owned property.
Is that where they got that working for the CBC is an honour stuff?
Will the CBC say suddenly "oh, never mind. we really didn't mean it come on back."
Maybe the Elton John song they should be quoting is "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
Bring on compulsory, binding arbitration and let somebody else decide what's right and fair.

Some of my colleagues are once again setting up an information picket at the Stampeders football game. I wonder if the cops are going to be called out again?
Me, I still got that bus drivers license....Welcome Aboard!

GOOD NIGHT NOW!!!!

Thursday

"And in the master's chambers, they gathered for the feast..."

Still locked out but now they're locked in with the cone of silence. I have no idea what that means. The CBC asks for a media blackout then publishes its latest offer. And then puts that 1/4 Million $ ad in the Mop and Pail to explain what and to whom?
I think saying working at the CBC is "an honour" implies that the institution itself is honourable. All I've seen in recent months from some, not all, but some of the people running the CBC is deceit, deception and duplicity.
I heard/listened to Stursberg's interview with Mark Forsythe in Vancouver cbcunplugged.blogware.com/blog/_WebPages/TranscriptStursbergscrummedbyVancouverworkers.htmland was left slack-jawed by Stursberg's comment that the union had not mentioned the casual/temporary situation as an issue!
What the hell does he think "non-permanent" means?
Does he honestly think the 30% estimate of people working at the CBC without permanent jobs is a number pulled out of the air ?
And that the fight is over their estimated 5% that actually have something in writing?
I only hope the rest of the CBC negotiating committee has a better grasp of what's going on or I fear it will take an Act of Parliament to end this fiasco.

Generally speaking on the line today, most expressed disappointment about CBC's offer.
The money wasn't right, the temp situation unanswered and benevolently alowing contractees to participate in the pension plan after two years is more of an insult than a worthwhile concession.

A deal by the weekend? I'd be surprised, but then I was astonished the CBC would lock us out....

GOOD NIGHT NOW!!!!