TVO and CMG Negotiation FAQ

CMG says that TVO CEO Jeffrey Orridge gave himself and other executives double digit pay increases while limiting increases to CMG workers. Is this true? 

No. In fact it’s wrong on several fronts.

First, Mr. Orridge has not received a raise since starting at TVO in 2020. He makes the same salary today as the day he started, which is the same salary his predecessor made in 2019. He did, however, join with TVO executives and other non-union employees in taking a pay CUT during the first year of the pandemic (when many people in other industries were losing their jobs). The following year, when he and the other TVO employees returned to the net pay they had received prior to the cut, CMG tried to call this a pay increase – which of course it was not.

Second, Mr. Orridge does not have the authority to give himself a raise. Under Ontario Government accountability directives, his compensation is set by TVO’s Board of Directors.

Third, the only executives to receive any salary increase during Mr. Orridge’s tenure as CEO are those who received a promotion or took on responsibility for an additional department. In these cases, salaries were adjusted to reflect the increased responsibilities (just as the salaries of CMG employees were adjusted when they received a promotion).

CMG says that TVO has a $17 million investment that could be used to give CMG employees the pay raises they are demanding. Is this true?

While it is true that TVO has $17 million invested in long-term GICs, this investment was made to cover TVO’s long-term liabilities, such as benefits for retired TVO employees and their families.

TVO believes it is prudent for any organization with long-term liabilities to also have long-term investments. We therefore believe that these funds should not be used for current operating expenses such as pay increases. 

CMG says this practice is “highly unusual” and that TVO has reported this money in a way that “obscures” its purpose. Is this true? 

No on both counts.

It is not unusual at all for an organization with long-term liabilities to have long-term investments. In fact, it is standard business practice.

TVO’s financial reporting is done in accordance with generally accepted accounting practices, and our financial statements are audited every year by Ontario’s Auditor General. Nothing has been obscured.

In fact, CMG had previously asked us the purpose of these funds and we explained very clearly that these investments are intended to cover long-term liabilities such as benefits for retired TVO employees and their families.

Why is The Agenda with Steve Paikin not currently running? When will it return?

As some of the striking CMG members are critical to the production of The Agenda with Steve Paikin, we can not produce new episodes during the strike. In its place, we are airing TVO Original documentaries and other TVO content. The Agenda will not return during the strike.

CMG is saying that most of TVO’s 300+ employees are being paid full time salaries to work less than full time hours during the strike because they have no content to work with. Is this true? 

Not at all.

While there are a small number of employees in a couple of departments whose work has been impacted, those employees are taking on other duties such as training on new equipment, helping in other areas of the organization, or working on special projects.

For the vast majority of TVO employees, the CMG strike does not impact their day-to-day activities at all. Entire departments, like TVOkids, TVO ILC, TVO Mathify, Finance, Technology, and Marketing (to name just a few) have been fully engaged in their regular work throughout the strike.

Why did TVO move to the “final offer” stage? 

We have been bargaining with CMG since last November and have talked-through the details of the issues numerous times. TVO and CMG have a shared interest in getting our employees and members back to work. It is time for us to bring our full TVO team back together to continue creating the exceptional content TVO is known for.

To facilitate this, we put our best and final offer on the table.

Will TVO be making another offer to resolve the strike?

No. Throughout the negotiations, TVO has made numerous proposals and offers. With the vote to reject our final offer, this chapter of the negotiations has come to an end.

Will TVO be referring the CMG contract to binding arbitration as the government has said it may do with some teacher unions

No. We believe it is best to resolve issues at the bargaining table wherever possible.

Additionally, arbitration is typically used in cases where a strike could cause unacceptable harm if services are withdrawn (such as closing schools, disrupting hospitals or shutting down fire stations).

Although we would be the first to say that the content and services TVO provides are valuable, they do not rise to the level of closing schools or hospitals.

What is in TVO’s final offer?

The final offer consists of three key elements:

• A wage increase for all CMG employees of 7.7% over three years, consisting of a 3.0% increase in year one, a 2.75% increase in year two and a 1.75% increase in the final year.

• An agreement to retain the language currently in the collective agreement regarding contract employees, with no waivers allowing for contract extensions.

• A commitment that TVO will provide a training program that allows employees in the ‘Producer/Director 1’ classification to learn the core skillset that would qualify them for employment in the ‘Digital Media Producer 1’ classification.

What makes this offer beneficial to both TVO and CMG?

The offer maintains a level of job security for CMG employees that is among the best in the industry, provides increased access to new job opportunities for production staff and delivers a fair wage increase for all CMG employees.

At the same time, it provides TVO with cost certainty, augments the skill set of TVO staff as the organization evolves with the future of digital media, and continues the record of sound management of the public and donor dollars TVO is responsible for.

How does the final offer to CMG employees compare to the increase non-union employees received? 

CMG’s contract expired in October of 2022, so the first year’s increase on any new contract will be retroactive to that time, with the second year’s increase taking effect in October 2023. So, if TVO’s offer had been accepted, CMG employees would have received two increases totaling 5.8% by the end of this month.

Non-union employees received 1% last year and 2.75% this year.

CMG says they suspect the provincial government mandated a cap on the increase TVO could offer. Do you take direction from the government on your negotiations?

TVO is a taxpayer and donor funded organization. Naturally, like any similar public agency, we have conversations with government regarding our labour negotiations.

It is not appropriate for us to get into the details of those conversations, but we can say that the government has been clear about their desire that we negotiate an agreement that is both fair to our CMG employees and respectful of the taxpayer dollars we manage.

TVO had said that the flexibility to extend contracts beyond two years was important to its operations, yet that flexibility was not included in the final offer. What has changed? 

CMG feared that our proposal for increased contract flexibility could lead to further ‘gigification’ in our workforce. While not having the flexibility to extend contracts beyond two years will mean that some tough decisions will have to be made about contracts and the allocation of resources, we concluded that TVO can operate under current contract language without sacrificing the quality content we are known for. For all of these reasons, we dropped the proposal in its entirety. This was a significant ‘give’ on TVO’s part.

CMG says that management staff at TVO received double-digit pay increases during COVID. Is this true? 

No. The fact is that during the COVID years, salary increases for all TVO employee groups were limited to 1% per year – union and management.

In fact, during the first year of the pandemic when many people in other industries were losing their jobs, TVO decided to forgo the portion of management compensation called ‘pay for performance.’ This resulted in a temporary net pay decrease for most non-union employees.

When this compensation was restored the following year, employees returned to the net pay they had received prior to the pandemic. CMG has repeatedly referred to this as a pay increase, which it clearly was not.

CMG said that TVO’s budget has been cut or frozen. Is that true?

No. In fact, support for TVO, including for the work our CMG employees do, has been stronger over the past three years than at any time in recent memory.

We have a larger employee team than we’ve had in years, including more full-time employees (FTEs) and more employees who are members of CMG. In the last year alone, we’ve added 20 new permanent FTEs to our CMG ranks – 15 in digital learning and 5 in current affairs.

We have expanded our content offerings in both digital learning and current affairs over the last three years.

-   New learning resources have been developed in every subject and at every grade level from Kindergarten to Grade 8. In addition, more than 50 new teacher-led secondary courses have been developed for use across the province.

-   New editorial content over this time includes The Thread with Nam Kiwanuka, the Know Brainers video series, the Nerds On… series as well as new podcasts, new journalist beats, and more.

CMG made mention of “shutting down TVO”. Is it possible that TVO might be shut down due to the strike? 

No, not at all. We will continue to deliver high quality content and services to our audiences, and it is our intention to minimize disruptions to stakeholders and audiences during the strike.

In fact, from an audience perspective much of TVO is unaffected by the strike. TVOkids, TVO documentaries, TVO ILC, and TVO Learn (including services like TVO Mathify) are all functioning without disruption. Additionally, this work stoppage has not halted production of online educational courses, as the specific tasks that CMG employees perform have not prevented us from carrying out all other elements of course development during this time.

Of course, there will be no new episodes of The Agenda produced during the strike, and some other current affairs content will be canceled or pushed back. In their place, we will run TVO Original documentaries and other content throughout the strike.

How long have CMG employees been on strike?

CMG employees began legal strike action on August 21, 2023. The two sides had been in negotiations since November 2022.