Postmedia to lay off dozens of employees
Move comes as unions reject temporary salary cut
One of Canada’s largest newspaper conglomerates will lay off about 40 employees after a number of its unions would not approve a temporary salary reduction to help reduce costs amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a memo sent to staff.
“Given the scale of the crisis, and the unprecedented level of revenue declines, it was very important to me that the burden of cost containment be shared fairly across the company,” reads the memo from Postmedia CEO Andrew MacLeod, which was shared on social media.
Postmedia’s vice-president of communications, Phyllise Gelfand, confirmed the figure in an email.
The memo explains that measures such as temporary salary reductions that are not expressly contained in collective agreements for its unionized operations must be negotiated between union leaders and management. Union leaders then take select options to their members who may vote on management proposals.
Postmedia has 43 collective agreements across the company, according to the memo.
Postmedia asked the union to approve a five per cent wage reduction for all staff, said Martin O’Hanlon, president of CWA Canada, which represents a couple of hundred Postmedia employees across Canada.
At the end of April, the company announced company-wide pay cuts in addition to about 80 layoffs and the closing of 15 community publications. Staff who earn $60,000 or more, excepting commissioned ad sales representatives, would receive a salary reduction for at least three months to be re-evaluated later. Executive vice-presidents, senior vice-presidents, directors, managers and supervisors would see their pay cut by eight per cent to 20 per cent, while remaining staff would experience a five per cent drop with no one falling below the $60,000 annual salary mark.
The proposed pay cut would have saved the company about $100,000, O’Hanlon said. The union declined to agree to it, but offered to purchase $100,000 in advertisements instead — an offer he said was ignored.
“The executives, the debt holders are not going to be out a penny when this is all said and done with so why the hell would the people who put out the product, why should they bear all the burden? That’s our point.”