Craig Media’s expansion plans anger striking employees at its Edmonton station

Craig Media’s ambitious expansion plans have angered striking television workers who contend that the broadcaster has repeatedly told them it has no money. "We’re shocked to hear that he (owner Drew Craig) has the capital to expand when all we hear from him is that there is no money," striking cameraman Chris Peterson tells Canadian Communications Reports. Peterson is chief steward with Local 1900 of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP), which was formed at Craig Media’s Edmonton-based A-Channel in September 2001 to press for higher wages and job security. When no progress was made in negotiations over the following two years, the union walked off the job on Sept. 17, 2003. "Our bargainers keep hearing: ‘We have no money. We have no money. There is no money.’ That’s what we hear all the time from (management)," adds Peterson. Craig Media president and CEO Drew Craig told CCR last year that the broadcaster "definitely" had enough cash to expand into the Vancouver market, and was also eyeing Montreal. He added that Canada was big enough to sustain two additional national broadcasters in the event that both his company and CHUM Ltd. decided to expand to a national footprint (CCR, Nov. 14/03). Private broadcasters CanWest Global Communications Corp. and CTV Inc., along with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC), are the country’s existing national broadcasters. CEP national representative Art Simmonds says that he recognizes that capital was raised specifically to launch Toronto 1, two days after about 70 of Craig’s unionized Edmonton employees went on strike, but that the Alberta market is lucrative enough to generate the funds necessary to better treat workers. "I’m assuming, in terms of (Craig Media’s) ability to raise the capital, it can do that. But in terms of the operating budgets of the stations, that’s a different matter. It’s a question of where they put their money. Edmonton and Calgary are very lucrative markets. They are one of three prime markets in Canada, so there is revenue to come out of the (Edmonton/Calgary) market," Simmonds states. Ratings released last week reveal that A-Channel’s share of the Edmonton market has plunged to levels recorded when the station first launched six years ago. The ratings of A-Channel in Calgary, where workers have not unionized and are not on strike, remain stable. In the 18-plus demographic, ratings for the 6 p.m. newscast during the 2003 fall ratings period at A-Channel Edmonton dropped to 8,300 viewers from 22,600 a year earlier, according to Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM) figures. The market leader, CTV’s CFRN, attracted 137,100 viewers, down from 138,000 a year earlier, while Global grew by 6,900 viewers to 123,800. "What is interesting is that A-Channel Calgary held its own, whereas in Edmonton - depending on whose interpretation you look at - they’ve lost anywhere from 50% to 60%, which is pretty serious. They can’t say it’s the Alberta market because Calgary has held its own, while Edmonton has taken a huge hit," Simmonds notes. Peterson points out, "We would like to see some of the capital used to pay their loyal employees who are on strike to keep the product up so the ratings will stay up. We worked six hard years for those ratings, and in two months, half of them are gone." Craig Media COO Al Thorgeirson says that the strike has not affected ratings at A-Channel Edmonton despite the fact that the labour dispute has resulted in the suppertime news program being cut by half an hour. He also states that no national advertisers have pulled their commercials from the station - a claim refuted by the union. "We haven’t had any national ad cancellations in Edmonton," he states. "But I don’t want to get into negotiations in the media. They (the union) have their version and I have mine." Thorgeirson attributes the ratings drop to fragmenting audiences. "What has happened to our ratings in the last six years is that there is 100 more signals available in each of these markets. The share of local station markets seems to be eroding in small bits and bites as we go along," he notes. "And time shifting is a huge factor for every broadcaster now." Peterson says the main disagreement between Craig Media management and the striking workers revolves around the union’s call for a pay grid. At the moment, he says most of the broadcaster’s employees, with the exception of some on-air personalities, are paid 40% less than those working at competing stations in Edmonton. He says that a salary grid would ensure that new employees are hired at a specified minimum wage. "They keep saying that they don’t do grids. So what they have offered us is 5% in the first year, 3% in the second year, and 3% in the third. But they will give us 5% of what? Our theory is that the next time that a cameraman comes in, all they have to do is lower the salary to make up that 5%. So there is no guarantee on what a person is going to make at the station," he states. Peterson, who has been working at A-Channel Edmonton as an ENG cameraman since February 2000 after doing similar work for years in the United States, says that he makes $28,000 a year for a 40-hour work week. He says he received a small raise after his first six months on the job, but has gotten no increase since. Craig Media’s labour troubles in Edmonton and its sagging ratings at the station don’t bode well, particularly if CHUM is given CRTC approval to enter the Alberta market. The CRTC is expected to release its decision soon on CHUM’s licence applications for over-the-air stations in Calgary and Edmonton with a retransmitter in Red Deer (CCR, June 20/03). "The running joke around here is that if CHUM comes to Edmonton, it’s got a full staff sitting here on strike," notes Peterson.

Craig Media’s expansion plans anger striking employees at its Edmonton station

News | 01/15/2004 5:00 am EST

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