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July 9, 2018
VICTORIA - More media workers are losing their jobs in Canada’s growing newspaper industry crisis says Unifor after Glacier Media announced it is shutting down the pressroom of the Victoria Times Colonist.
“We are saddened that this iconic newspaper on Vancouver Island will no longer be printed by Unifor Local 2000 members,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President.
“The press hall workers have a long history with our local and have helped trailblaze collective agreement rights enjoyed by other unionized employees at the paper,” said Brian Gibson, President of Unifor Local 2000 that represents the workers.
Glacier Media’s decision leaves 18 press workers without jobs on September 30, 2018. The average years of service for those laid off is 19 years.
The company intends to contract their work to a facility outside of Victoria. Local 2000 is in negotiations now to improve severance packages and to secure positions for the members in other areas at the newspaper.
“This is a loss to the Island community. Most of our highly skilled members have spent their careers working for this company. These are good paying jobs and our members are a big part of the local economy,” said Joie Warnock, Unifor’s Western Regional Director.
In 2017, Glacier sold the Times Colonist building at 2621 Douglas Street to a developer with plans to transform the press hall into a brewery.
For more information, please contact Unifor Communications Representative Ian Boyko: ian.boyko@unifor.org or (778) 903-6549 (cell)
