CBC Lockout Watch, Day 34

Word on the street is that this weekend will be make or break for the CBC lockout negotiations. Either they'll be back to work soon or they'll be walking the picket line for months to come.

All the major issues remain unresolved, and CBC negotiators are warning the CMG to hurry up:

With 18 issues still remaining and nearly five weeks into the labour disruption, CBC is concerned with the current slow pace at the table, particularly on the key issues. Nearly all of the remaining issues are important ones, and the fundamental matters at the table - including Contract employees, Contracting Out, Demonstrated Occupational Qualification and Job Evaluation, among others - will require concentrated time in order to reach agreement. CBC is committed to bargaining and will do everything possible to try to reach a deal so we can all get back to work as soon as possible.

Toronto Unlocked, Andy Barrie's morning show on CIUT, will air its final show Friday because of the strain of doing a morning news show on CIUT's limited resources.

Give Barrie and his team credit for actually producing real programming instead of the usual whining about being locked out and inside jokes mixed in with a little music that form the content of all the other broadcasts by locked-out CBC people.

Ouimet puts down her Earl Grey and gives the management and union both barrels, but especially the union:

And you know they are in here: the unionized duds who can't work, don't want to work, or refuse to work. You know exactly who I mean. CMG knows exactly who they are, too.

But these people cannot be fired because it is the union's job to protect them. They get shuffled around for years. They get dumped into unwitting departments. They complain every day about work until they finally, mercifully, retire.

My father was an elementary school principal, and he used to complain regularly about how the teachers union made it impossible to get rid of the deadwood floating around the schools in his board. And if you think CMG is bad for this, Ouimet, you've never seen a teachers union go to the wall for the weakest.

Civitatensis has posted the first online petition in favour of prolonging the CBC lockout. You can sign it here.