More than 500 Radio-Canada researchers will finally be compensated 25 years after filing a complaint for salary discrimination with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, it has been learned The duty. The out-of-court agreement between the union and the public broadcaster is not unanimous among employees and ex-employees, who criticize its ultra-confidential nature and deplore payment delays of several months.
“It looks like a state secret for the country’s national security,” Nancy complains on the line. In January, the research journalist received, like several of her colleagues, a call informing her that she would be compensated following an agreement reached in August 2023 between her union and the public broadcaster.
She had no memory of the case, which was a quarter of a century old. In 1999, the Syndicat des communications filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, alleging that the public broadcaster’s researchers—mostly women—were victims of gender-based pay discrimination, which violates the Canadian Human Rights Act. It was only after a long legal battle that the parties reached an amicable agreement last summer.
Nancy learned earlier this year that under this agreement, she would receive reimbursement of more than $2,000 from her employer within 90 days of signing a confidentiality agreement. But no details were disclosed to him regarding the calculation of the amount that the state company owes him. Amount that she only received on Thursday, after several months of delay.
“At the time, I skimmed the letter and signed it. They present it to you as good news, they’re going to give you money. But when I read it again, I said to myself: what’s this story? […] I don’t understand the secrecy surrounding this whole affair, why did we bring out the army for this? It’s frightening ! Especially since we are talking about the public broadcaster which is supposed to demonstrate transparency,” she takes offense.
The confidentiality commitment, including The duty obtained a copy, prohibits the persons concerned from discussing the agreement or sharing any documents relating to it. In the event of non-compliance, they will have to reimburse the amount paid by Radio-Canada and will be held “responsible for any damage suffered”. It is even stipulated that the confidentiality undertaking and the receipt “bind [leurs] successors, heirs and assigns”.
Despite this silence, several people wanted to confide in the Duty so that the story does not remain in the shadows. However, they requested confidentiality, fearing reprisals from Radio-Canada.
Opacity criticized
Contacted by The duty, the management of the public broadcaster and the Union of Radio-Canada Workers (STTRC-CSN) — formerly the Communications Union — refused to answer our questions, citing confidentiality clauses included in the agreement. It is therefore impossible to know the exact number of people affected or the total amount that Radio-Canada must reimburse.
In 2009, The duty reported that 543 people were affected by this complaint and that the union estimated at the time that the sums involved amounted to “several million dollars”.
Does the union believe it signed an agreement that is favorable to its members? “The union didn’t believe anything. It signed a confidentiality agreement that closed a dispute. That’s all,” replied its president, Pierre Tousignant. He also pointed out that the union has the authority to conclude agreements with the public broadcaster without having to consult its members beforehand.
As for the late payment, Mr. Tousignant referred The duty towards Radio-Canada “which manages the agreement”. The public broadcaster indicated that “everything is taking its course” and that it is “working together with the union to finalize the treatment of these”.
The confidentiality of information contained in an amicable agreement is a common practice, but Radio-Canada employees and former employees deplore having no information regarding the calculation of the amount awarded to them individually.
“It breaks my heart how this is handled. It sickens me! You make us sign something like that… at least fulfill the conditions. […] Am I surprised? No, it’s always like that at Radio-Canada. It’s the corporate culture,” criticizes Nancy.
An opinion shared by several ex-employees who are still waiting for their payment.
“It’s not so much the amount as the way of doing it [qui me pose problème]. […] “Why do you impose confidentiality when it’s public money? It’s pretty undemocratic for a media employer,” Joannie says.
A retired research journalist, she has still not received the $6,000 that Radio-Canada owes her, more than six months after signing the confidentiality agreement. “And without a spreadsheet, I have no idea if that includes the lost amount that would have gone into the pension fund and the interest,” she says.
In addition to criticizing her former employer’s lack of transparency, she blames her former union for not having shared the parameters of the agreement with its members.
“I don’t have any great congratulations to give to the union, no one kept us informed,” adds Emma, another former employee who is still waiting for her compensation of more than $2,000. “I asked questions about how all this was calculated, but the person on the other end of the line was very evasive.” According to her, it was even thanks to word of mouth that the union was able to find former employees covered by the agreement.
Documents obtained by The duty also show an anomaly in the counting of contractual and temporary researchers between 1995 and 1998 by Radio-Canada.
Long battle
The duty analyzed more than a hundred documents obtained by access to information law from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
Emails, expert reports, orders for disclosure of evidence, requests for delays and failure of mediation punctuate this legal saga which spanned 25 years.
These documents reveal that Radio-Canada attempted at the time to deny the pay equity problem which affected seven types of jobs mainly occupied by women and which should give rise to salary adjustments, namely radio production assistants. , TV production assistants, subtitlers, librarians, librarians, researchers and researcher-programmersa function found in the English sector.
According to the documents consulted, the Radio-Canada Communications Union reported these salary disparities as early as 1995. The head of Human Resources at the time then raised the possibility of addressing the issue during the negotiations of the new collective agreement. However, in 1997, requests on this subject were refused at the negotiating table, which led to the filing of a complaint before the Canadian Human Rights Commission in 1999.
“Since 1999, when the complaint was filed, our calculations show that at all salary levels, the hourly salary rates of researchers are lower than the hourly salary rates paid to salary group 9 [des techniciens] », Indicates an expert report on pay equity commissioned by the union in 2018 and including The duty got a copy. A difference of more than 13% was notably highlighted in the hourly salary upon hiring between the two professions.
In its complaint, the union requested in particular reimbursement of lost wages and social benefits, and has done so since 1995. In 2006, a joint exercise was carried out by Radio-Canada in order to rectify the situation in its salary scales.
It should be noted that since August 2021, Radio-Canada has been subject to the new federal law on pay equity. Employers covered by federal regulations with at least 10 employees have three years – until August 2024 – to adopt a pay equity plan which will then be reviewed periodically.
“Before we had no law at the federal level, we had to refer to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms when we noticed salary gaps between men and women. With the Charter, a complaint must be filed to initiate the process and the burden of proof falls on the complaining party. There, we have a proactive law which created the obligation not to have salary discrimination and to correct any gaps if they exist. The burden of proof now falls on the employer. This is a major change,” underlines the professor of industrial relations at Laval University, Yves Hallée, who acted as an expert in the case between Radio-Canada and the STTRC-CSN.