“We’ve just put an offer on the table.” So begins the full page ad in the Globe and Mail (my colleague Tod Maffin reports that such ads cost about $63,000) on Day 45 of the CBC lockout. It’s going to create a lot of talk, this ad. People are going to think it means a […]
Work
Posted inNews + Opinion
Dial tones
With the CBC lockout entering its sixth week, woeful fans have had plenty of time to assess what they miss the most from their public broadcaster. Because regional branches of CBC Radio are shut down across the country, original local programming has all but disappeared from the airwaves while day-to-day operations are handled out of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Week six: Lockout night in Canada
It’s week six and frankly, it’s hard to believe we’re still out there. Do I start every entry like this, or does it just feel that way? I haven’t been to the picket line yet this week. I’ve done a bit of clerical and committee stuff, but not nearly enough to earn my $350 lockout […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Line drive
Ever since CBC management locked its doors against my 5,500 colleagues and me across Canada five weeks ago, many, many things have broken my heart on a pretty near daily basis. In addition to walking the picket line, I’ve volunteered for other duties, most of them organizational, because I’m good at that, and it gives […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Reality cheque
The stress was like a dull throbbing toothache that wouldn’t go away. Her hair fell out, she chewed off her nails and she lost her appetite. Helen Jackson was in a vice grip of stress and anxiety for three years. It started with a single payday loan. “I was scared. I was ashamed to be […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Insecure
Week four. Many of us didn’t believe it would last this long. Others think it’ll go on for a while yet. So much time to think on the line. Lately, I’ve been thinking about security. I’ve been on contracts of varying lengths at CBC for three years. My current contract is for 12 months; it’s […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Key words
I went to a lot of parties last weekend. The kind of parties at which the CBC lockout inevitably comes up. Maybe strangers are discussing how much they miss As It Happens, or maybe it’s someone who knows me, who asks how I’m handling the strike. “The lockout?” I say, “Oh, you know.” They respond […]
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Club Meditation
When I signed up to work as an office temp, I thought I was in for a summer of polyester blouses wet in the pits, bloat-inducing Chinese lunches in underground cafeterias and endless hours of staring at a computer. What I got instead was induction into the Maharishi yogic cult, phone sex with a billionaire […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
How low can they go?
Dozens of protestors wore blue paper placards and paraded around Halifax’s Mumford Road Wal-Mart store parking lot in the cold rain and wind. Their bibs lampooned the Wal-Mart name and slogan: they read “Mal-Wart” and “Always Low Standards.” The ink ran in the rain. Some fliered Wal-Mart customers with mock ads for items like the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Snow job
There are 23,000 students in the Halifax Regional School Board, and most of them unwittingly pray to Ann Bell.Bell is the coordinator of pupil transportation for the Halifax Regional School Board, and these days, she’s keeping a close eye on the skies. Every time a major storm slams into Halifax, Bell is responsible for deciding […]