By: E&P Staff It was a turbulent weekend for unionized newspaper employees in Montreal, with Le Journal de Montreal locking out editorial and office workers on Saturday, and union workers at the Montreal Gazette rejecting a contract offer Sunday.
Management at the French-language Le Journal declared a lockout of about 250 editorial and office employees who have been working without a contract since Dec. 31.
The Quebecor Media ownership is in a dispute with the union over proposals to increase weekly hours without an increase in pay, a reduction in benefits and time off, and a potential reduction in staff. Quebecor said it wants to restructure its organization, to use all the resources of its 300 publications, but union leaders say they fear the plans would hurt quality and take work away from Le Journal editorial employees.
The paper will continue to publish during the lockout, Quebecor said.
At the English-language Montreal Gazette, a similar dispute divides the Montreal Newspaper Guild and owner Canwest Global Communications Corp., Canada's biggest newspaper chain.
Canwest would like to outsource some editorial work -- including pagination, copy-editing, and headline-writing -- plus some and back-office work to its offices in Hamilton, Ontario and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The Gazette reported Monday its editorial department voted by a more than 80% margin against the proposed contract. Unionized sales personnel also rejected it by a big majority. Guild-represented advertising department employees voted 65% to 35% to accept the proposal.
The union employees have worked without a contract since June, and authorized a strike in a September vote. But the Gazette quoted a Guild leader as saying he didn't intend to call a strike following the contract rejection.
Publisher Alan Allnutt declined to comment on speculation the Gazette will lock out its employees.
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