HALIFAX -- The union that represents editorial staff at the Halifax Chronicle Herald said it filed a 48-hour strike notice Wednesday after the failure of last-ditch contract talks with management at Canada's largest independent daily newspaper.
The Halifax Typographical Union said the newspaper's management rejected a series of concessions with only two days to go before management and the union are in a legal strike/lockout position.
Earlier this week, union members voted overwhelmingly in favour of striking.
Of the 300 people who work at the daily, 61 unionized workers in the newsroom could be off the job as early as Saturday morning at 12:01 a.m.
The concessions offered by the union included a five per cent wage cut and no raises for the next two years, a 25 per cent reduction in starting salaries for new reporters and photographers, a cap on severance, and reducing vacation allotments and mileage allowances.
Nancy Cook, the Herald's vice-president of administration, issued a statement saying those concessions were not "meaningful."
However, Cook said the company would not lock out the workers and will continue negotiations if they agree not to strike and certain conditions are met.
"We've said from Day 1 that we do not want to see our colleagues on the picket line," she said. "We haven't reached an agreement but we are willing to continue to try."
Cook said the union must agree that the company's most recent contract offer will serve as the basis of employment until a final contract can be reached.
The company says it wants to reduce wages, lengthen working hours, alter future pension benefits and lay off up to 18 workers to cope with economic challenges that have beset North America's newspaper industry for years.
The union has said the company's proposal to cut wages and extend working hours from 35 to 40 hours a week will result in a 17 per cent reduction in newsroom pay. As well, it says the company wants to do away with the existing defined-benefit pension plan.
Management has already filed a notice that gives the company the option to lock out newsroom staff with 48 hours notice.
The union said a work stoppage seems inevitable.
"We believe the company's strategy is nothing short of union-busting," the union's statement said, adding that the company's position hasn't changed since bargaining started in October.
"In essence, if we were to agree to their demands, we would be giving away all job security, some access to severance pay and layoff protection tied to seniority."
The union said it, too, is willing to continue negotiations. But if talks fail, it is asking readers and advertisers to suspend their subscriptions and advertisements until a deal has been reached.
The bargaining unit includes reporters, editors, photographers, editorial writers, columnists, page technicians and support staff.
