CBC offers unionized employees a 14.5% pay hike
The public broadcaster receives about $1.4 billion in taxpayer funds annually.
CBC/Radio-Canada is preparing to give its unionized employees a 14.5% salary increase over four years.
The Canadian Radio-Canada Workers’ Union reached an agreement in principle with management overnight Thursday. The union’s leadership says it will recommend that members approve the deal according to a report by Le Journal de Québec.
The proposed agreement includes a six percent increase in its first year, retroactive to March 23, followed by raises of three percent in 2027, three percent in 2028 and 2.5% in 2029.
Few, if any, major Canadian news organizations have recently awarded raises of that size. Private media companies have spent years cutting staff and consolidating operations as advertising revenues disappear, despite heavy government subsidies.
CBC employees operate in a rather different economic universe.
The agreement follows a commitment from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to protect the taxpayer-funded broadcaster’s budget, insulating it from the pressures confronting its private competitors.
Interim union president Lise Millette argued the bargaining unit includes more than prominent journalists and television hosts. It also represents office employees and technicians, some of whom she said earn close to minimum wage and qualify for social housing.
The deal would eliminate the possibility of a strike beginning as early as Sept. 23. Such a walkout could have forced the cancellation of a televised Quebec election leaders’ debate scheduled for that evening.
The union had initially demanded raises totalling 20% over three years. Members are expected to vote on the tentative agreement within the next two weeks.
The CBC deal also towers over the government’s offer to other federal workers. The Treasury Board has reportedly proposed a two percent increase for 2025, followed by raises of only 0.5% annually from 2026 through 2028.
Apparently, austerity applies differently when your employer can send the bill directly to Canadian taxpayers.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Bureau Chief, member of the board of directors, and host of The Gunn Show at Rebel News. Sheila also serves as President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada. A mother of three and longtime conservative activist, Sheila is the author of bestselling books, including her most recent release, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec.
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