Canadian Labour Reporter

"We fully believe we are in full compliance with all federal labour standards, and trust that will be the ultimate determination." Channel Zero purchased CHCH-TV Hamilton from Can- west Global in 2009 for $11, said Millar. At the time, Canwest had concluded CHCH was no longer financially viable and projected it would lose nearly $30 million dur- ing the 2010 fiscal year. At the time of this purchase, said Millar, CHCH was three times larger than the entirety of Channel Zero both in rev- enue and the number of employ- ees. Because of this imbalance, Channel Zero chose to legally insulate itself from bankruptcy should CHCH fail. This insula- tion was achieved by holding the CRTC licence for CHCH-TV Hamilton in 2190015 Ontario Inc. (219), a wholly owned subsid- iary in Holdco. "CHCH-TV, with its higher- than-average local TV volume and presence, was by the fall of 2015 in dire straits," said Millar. "Given these new financial difficulties facing CHCH-TV, including loss- es reaching $130,000 per week, 219 terminated its management agreement with Channel 11 L.P., forcing the latter to assign itself into bankruptcy." CHCH employees were com- pensated for all outstanding wages and vacation pay, said Mil- lar. Additionally, many employ- ees received additional payments through the Wage Earner Protec- tion Program (WEPP). Unifor, however, argued mil- lions of dollars were still owed to employees. "Our members, we've calculat- ed, are owed — in terms of sever- ance and notice — somewhere in the area of $3.5 million," said Liz Marzari, national representative for Unifor. "We're hoping that the rulings of the labour board — if we're suc- cessful with our applications — would be successful in securing some of those funds of all of those funds for our members." The union has filed a succes- sor employer application and a related employer application with the Canada Industrial Relations Board. Unifor has also filed com- plaints against the employer for bad faith bargaining and unfair la- bour practices. One of the union's biggest is- sues with the handling of the bank- ruptcy is the way a new group of companies was created to do the same work previously performed by Channel 11, said Marzari. About 70 workers were rehired to provide news services and CHCH resumed broadcasting, with fewer weekly local program- ming hours. "They were rehired out of se- niority, which is obviously an issue for us," she said. "We would have hoped to have seen members re- hired by the companies by senior- ity and that didn't happen so there may be some compensation that's required there." The union is also awaiting the results of the government's inves- tigation. "The investigation certainly wasn't initiated by us," said Mar- zari. "We welcome, though, any- thing that shines light on the situ- ation at Channel 11, at CHCH. It was unprecedented, the action the company took. I've never seen anything like that and I think that the way they went about it and the treatment that employees received was obviously, in our opinion, not right. It was not the right way to treat people who had been loyal to you and who bargained with you in good faith for their wages and ben- efits and severance." If, at the conclusion of the gov- ernment's investigation, the in- spector issues a written payment order to the employer, it is possible the directors of the company could be held individually responsible. "I would hope that it would set a precedent," said Marzari of indi- viduals being held responsible for the money owed to CHCH em- ployees. "I'm hopeful that it would give employers pause to consider their actions before taking a simi- lar route." While the union hopes for precedent-setting results, the in- vestigation itself is fairly routine, according to Julia Sullivan, chief of media relations for Employment and Social Development Canada. "It is standard procedure for the Labour Program to initiate an in- vestigation when there is a bank- ruptcy," said Sullivan. "Labour standards officers also conduct proactive workplace inspections and investigate complaints of la- bour standards violations to ensure employers and employees comply with the Canada Labour Code." During an investigation, an in- spector will contact the parties and gather facts to make a deter- mination on whether a violation of labour standards occurred. If either of the parties disagrees with the inspector's findings, they will have an opportunity to pro- vide more information. Any new submissions would be reviewed before the inspector submitted a final determination. If the complainant receives a Notice of Unfounded Complaint or the employer receives a Pay- ment Order, they could request a review of the inspector's determi- nation. Upon completion of the review the inspector's decision may be confirmed, varied or over- turned. If a violation of the Labour Code is found, the employer would be encouraged to voluntarily comply with requirements, said Sullivan. "Our goal is to ensure workers are protected and that their rights are protected," she said. "The code provides a legislated process for the collection of un- paid wages and other benefits to which an employee is entitled… This includes informing the di- rectors of their potential liability, should wages and other amounts under the code remain owing after details related to the bankruptcy are resolved." 7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2016 CANADIAN LABOUR REPORTER NEWS < CHCH pg. 1 Investigation launched by labour standards division Photo: Courtesy of Unifor The company is in full compliance with all federal labour standards, says Cal Millar, president and COO.

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