CHCH settlement nothing to celebrate

RE: Settlement reached over Channel 11 terminations

As a former employee of CHCH I would like to point out not everyone is celebrating the settlement over our terminations.

In my opinion nothing short of full severance was the goal, especially considering CHCH has made millions from the sale of the property and will now be further subsidized by a broadcast fund.

At a union meeting held last summer, we were told we would have the opportunity to vote on any offer. That never happened. Since that meeting, we were given very few updates from the union until the announcement of an agreement. I for one learned of the result by reading it in this paper. Maybe this is what passes for union protocol in 2017 but I expected more from Unifor.

I believe the ultimate goal was to re-establish the union inside CHCH with the current employees. But how will they be protected by the union? They continue to work for numbered companies that can be bankrupted without notice.

I have not watched the station since our termination. When I see the CHCH logo I am bitter and angry thinking of all the friends who lost their jobs that day. Some of them continue to struggle and this small settlement paid out over two years will be of marginal help.

CHCH prides itself as being the station of this community while it turned its back on their own. I look at CHCH as the station that despite the settlement just doesn’t care. Pardon me if I don’t crack open the champagne to celebrate. Matt Hayes, Former CHCH employee, Hamilton