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August 24, 2018
VICTORIA—Unifor Local 2000 is disappointed to learn Glacier Media will outsource the printing of the Times Colonist to a non-union press, killing 18 press operator jobs in Victoria.
“Outsourcing jobs away from experienced workers is always a mistake,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “The savings will be negligible and the community is losing good jobs.”
The company informed the union June 15 that it would close the Times Colonist press hall and move the work but only Tuesday revealed it is using a non-union press in Ladysmith, owned and operated by Black Press.
Meanwhile, 18 pressmen are losing their jobs on September 30. While Publisher David Obee stated Glacier Media would try to find jobs elsewhere at the Times Colonist for the pressmen, the company has recently stated that there are no openings at this time.
Chris Paige, who has worked in the Times Colonist press room for 18 years, was also disappointed to learn the work is going to a non-union shop.
“It costs so much money to live in this city, and I need a union job. I still live paycheque to paycheque, and now what am I going to do?” Paige said. “This is a community newspaper. I’m a member of this community. Do they really care about me?”
Glacier will start printing the Times Colonist in Ladysmith on Oct. 1.
Unifor Local 2000 represents nearly 700 workers across B.C. mostly working in newspapers.
