Without a collective agreement for a year and a half, the journalists of The Press went on a signature strike on Tuesday by removing their names from their articles. A way to express their fed up with the blocking of negotiations with the management of the daily and to denounce the maintenance of salary practices that they consider discriminatory against women.
“Employees have been making sacrifices, compromises, concessions for a long time in the context of a crisis in the print media sector, but today they have had enough. It’s not just a question of salary, it’s also about job security, transparency, and fairness,” says Janie Gosselin, president of the Union of Information Workers of The Press (STIP-CSN).
Negotiations with the management of the daily began last September, but the union members of the newsroom have been without a contract since December 31, 2021. In recent months, they have resorted to various means of pressure, without succeeding. to unblock the situation.
Tuesday, on the eve of a new day of negotiations, the journalists withdrew their signature from their articles of the day, the photographers did the same with their photos. Due to the nature of their work, columnists, editorial writers and feature writers had to sign their texts. “It’s a way to express our dissatisfaction in a visible way, hoping to make things happen,” said the president of the union, not excluding resorting to other means of pressure.
At the negotiating table, the discussions are blocked on several subjects, including that of “notoriety bonuses” awarded to a dozen journalists and columnists – all men – without the knowledge of the union in recent years. The STIP-CSN noticed this by chance, shortly before the negotiations. “The bonuses exceed the salaries provided for in the collective agreement, which is a violation of it, denounces Janie Gosselin. It is also a lack of transparency on the part of management and a major inequity towards women”.
“Increasing the remuneration of certain craftsmen is common and essential in the media universe in order to attract and retain the best talents whose particular expertise or reputation justifies it”, defends by email Florence Turpault-Desroches, Vice-President Communications and philanthropy.
She specifies that the management is aware of the existence of a “historical imbalance which must be corrected” and makes it a “priority” in the negotiations. The employer party proposed to “implement mechanisms to rectify the situation as soon as the agreement is signed and ensure a better balance between men and women in the granting of these bonuses. »
“We can give bonuses to 12 women, it will not solve the problem in the long term. We do not know how and to whom they will be granted, at what height and under what criteria, ”criticizes the president of the union.
Special agreements are possible, she says, but they must be made with the union. However, the employer party is asking that the union accept salary negotiations by mutual agreement with employees, without following the salary grid provided for in the agreement.
If the management of The Press needs to distribute bonuses to retain its employees, it may be a sign that salaries are not competitive enough, argues Mme Gosselin. The increase in wages – which have increased by only 1% since 2015 – is also a demand of the union.
Lack of transparency
The STIP-CSN also accuses senior management — particularly the president of The Press, Pierre-Elliott Levasseur — for having “interfered with management and hindered negotiations” by offering, at the beginning of the year, by surprise, one-time assistance to employees to cope with the rising cost of living. “This ‘bonus’, granted in the following days, was never even mentioned at the negotiation table, which directly contravenes article 12 of the Labor Code in terms of employer interference and obstruction of negotiation”, pleads the union which filed a complaint with the Administrative Labor Tribunal.
In the opinion of the union, this is further proof of the lack of “transparency” of the daily’s senior management, which also refuses to reveal the salaries of its management team. “Transparency is the basis of trust,” insists Janie Gosselin.