Montreal reporters get Time and Half on vacation = Lockout

Its Montreal's largest French-language paper. Owned by Quebecor, which also owns Sun Media in Canada
Quebecor just finished a 16-month lockout of the sister paper in Quebec City

Oh, and the union says the paper made $50 million profit in 2008


MONTREAL ­ Locked-out workers at the Journal de Montréal are warning they will use every legal means necessary to fight the potential use of “scab labour” by their employer.

More than 250 reporters, photographers, copy editors and office employees were barred from working at the Frontenac St. tabloid at midnight Friday after talks broke down between the two sides.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Entertainment/Journal+Montr%C3%A9al+union+will+fight+scab+labour/1214753/story.html



Quebecor wants to kill the union, which was given a sweetheart deal in the last agreement - INCLUDING Time and Half WHILE ON VACATION

Robitaille also outlined some of the working conditions of its employees, noting that the annual average income of a journalist and photographer at the Journal is $88,000 and that senior staff get six weeks of paid vacation at one and a half times their regular salary.

 

If the paper is still making money, why not get the perks.

 

Average salary is $88,000?!?! Sign me up, dude!

Six weeks of paid vacation? Insane. I've always thought the entire idea of paid vacation was pretty silly. Let employees take whatever vacation seems reasonable, but why on earth pay them for it? This ain't Stephon Marbury and the Knicks, for pete's sake. Maybe some companies could save some precious coin by doing away with paid vacations.

 

Yes, because those of us who make barely anything can sure afford that without missing making rent or paying the electric bill.

Honestly, If you were in charge where I work, I'd be working 52 weeks a year.

 

Are you fucking crazy? You don't think employees deserve paid time off? That is unbelievable. Six weeks is a lot, but in most places of work it something you get after being there for a long time.
What would you give your employess for time off?

 

Health insurance is worthless too. My paper can save a lot of money by dumping health coverage.

 

Actually, more and more places ARE dumping, or limiting, insurance and other perks.

If you structure your budgets correctly, you won't NEED paid vacation time. Sure, you'll always have some greedy types who will work themselves to the bone to pocket as much as they can. Fine. At least they are EARNING IT.

It's like a university prof told me many years ago: if you need every single dime of a paycheck to make ends meet, you haven't budgeted very well. Ideally (and yes, I know, real life sometimes is far from ideal), you should be able to meet your regular, PLANNED expenses on 75 percent of your regular income. Yes, I know, emergencies happen, which is where some of the other 25 percent go.

If not, you either have too large of expenses or too small of income. Get a smaller house, drive an older car, adjust your budget accordingly. For me, it was giving up the idea of having a spouse and kids, driving a big car, etc. It was explained to me very early in life not to expect to make a reporter's salary and live a banker's lifestyle.

 

I can't let this one go. You must be very young and still living with your parents if you don't think people deserve paid vacation. Please tell what decent job does not offer at least some paid vacation. I know some companys in Canada pay between 4 and 12% on each cheque in lieu of paid time off but to suggest that people should not have paid vacation maybe the most ludicrous thing I've heard.

 

I have a feeling after reading your posts that this is something you did not need to worry about.

 

Mark2010 chuckles as he thinks of Canadiens beat writer Bob Cratchit working on Christmas.

 

Awesome!

Seriously, no paid vacations. I think Mark just outed himself as Dean Singleton.

 

LOL, too funny.

Actually, most of the jobs I had when I was young were hourly wage, so I sort of got used to it. I could call in sick if I needed to, but I shouldn't expect to get PAID for calling in sick. So that was the mentality I grew up with.

To this date, the one thing that drives me insane more than any other about pro team sports is these guys who miss lots of time with injury and still collect their full salary. How is that fair? Tiger Woods misses half the year and what does he get paid?

Seriously, what is the difference between giving a person two weeks per year of paid vacation and then turning around and telling them to take a two-week unpaid furlough? It comes out the same.

I understand stuff like paid vacations, 401ks and the like are used as incentives and such. OK, fine. But this economy has taught us that employees are expendable, that one guy can do the same job as well as the next. Hell, I could step in tomorrow and cover the Super Bowl as well as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's beat guy. And vice versa. Readers wouldn't know the difference and management wouldn't care. We're all interchangable pawns.