(Halifax) A national union representing workers at Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper chain says the terms Postmedia is demanding in its bid to buy the SaltWire network are not as bad as some observers feared.
Sean Fitzpatrick, a lawyer representing the Canadian branch of the Communications Workers Union of America (CWA), confirms that the union has agreed to amend the contracts of the editorial staff it represents.
But Mr. Fitzpatrick says those changes were minor, including changing the name of the employer from SaltWire to Postmedia.
In addition, Postmedia had demanded that the union waive any inheritance tax claims that might be filed by unionized employees working at the Halifax-area plant that prints the Halifax Chronicle Herald.
Succession rights, as set out in provincial legislation, ensure that when the ownership of a business changes, the collective bargaining rights of unionized employees remain protected.
Labour experts had said waiving the inheritance tax would amount to a major concession by the SCA, but Fitzpatrick says the change will actually have little impact because Postmedia is not buying the plant in suburban Bedford, N.S.
Mr. Fitzpatrick says the inheritance tax will remain in place even if the plant is sold to a new owner. Yet Postmedia has made clear it plans to cut jobs in the coming months, leaving SaltWire’s 363 employees anxious.
The SCA negotiated with Postmedia after the Toronto-based company reached a tentative agreement to buy SaltWire for $1 million – a deal that received court approval last Thursday.