CTV Ottawa faces news of more staff reductions in June

OTTAWA — A week after Bell Media laid off 16 on-air staff at CTV Ottawa
and at four of its radio stations, the city’s top-ranked television
station was hit by another round of staff cuts Friday.
At an afternoon meeting at the Market Mall building, CTV Ottawa
employees were told that management is looking to eliminate 20 full-time
and 15 part-time jobs by mid-June. The positions involved are camera
operators, video editors and TV-production staff who are members of the
Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. None of the
station’s on-air staff are affected by the announcement. Also, employees
of CTV 2, formerly A-Channel, are not affected by the move.
CTV Ottawa employees met late Friday with union representatives to
discuss the announcement. CTV Ottawa, formerly CJOH-TV, has shrunk in
staff numbers since it moved from its longtime Merivale Road site to the
Byward Market more than two years ago. Stalwarts like anchor Carol Anne
Meehan, weatherman J.J. Clarke and late news anchor Leigh Chapple still
remain at the station.
But Louis Douville, CTV Ottawa’s longtime general manager, also left the
station recently and is now at CTV Montreal. And Max Keeping, long
considered the face of CJOH-TV, is retired, although he still serves as
a Community Ambassador for the station.
“This was very difficult news that we delivered today,” said Richard
Gray, CTV Ottawa general manager.
“We announced that effective June 18 the company plans to make
substantial changes to the staffing module that presently exists at the
station. We’re going to do business in a very different way than what we
have at the station historically,” he said.
Gray said employees will have a choice to take a voluntary severance
package, but if the required number is not met management could look at
additional layoffs.
“I suspect a large number of staff will take the voluntary packages,” he
said. The CTV Ottawa staff currently numbers around 99 full-time
employees, he said.
The news shocked many CTV Ottawa staffers, said Dave Lewington, CEP
national representative.
“The employees are devastated, they really are and the news goes down
hard,” said Lewington.
“There was no inkling really that a station that is profitable and has
been working well for so many years should be affected in this way. Bell
Media is making a fortune, they are one of the top five wealthiest
companies in Canada,” he said.
Lewington said that more than half the employees have 20 years service,
starting first at CJOH and continuing at CTV Ottawa, and for some this
is the second time they have been laid off in their career.
He said the union began collective bargaining with Bell Media on
Wednesday and through its collective bargaining agreement, the company
has the right to initiate the changes.
Gray said the television industry in Canada is changing and the staff
reductions are necessary to keep the station competitive.
“Our business is changing. As a result of the uniqueness of our
situation here in Ottawa where we have two stations under one roof and
using different technologies and different approaches to doing business,
there was an opportunity for us to do this,” said Gray.
He said CTV 2 has about 30 full-time employees, making it one of the
smallest stations in the country.
“With respect to CTV Ottawa we are seeking to establish a staffing level
that we think is appropriate to what that station does and how it serves
the community. I’m seeking to make the station as cost-effective as
possible utilizing the resources that exist within this facility and
that are available in the industry today,” he said.
Gray said some employees may have to be re-assigned to other jobs at the
station, but that will not be determined until it is clear how many
staff will take the voluntary severance package.