CEP
Press Release

Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada
203 – 275 Broadway, Winnipeg, Manitoba    R3C 4M6   (204) 988-1400

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 7, 2007

The Manitoba Labour Board has certified CEP Local 191 (the Media Union of Manitoba and N.W. Ontario) as the bargaining agent for the editorial, advertising, creative services and distribution employees of Canstar Community Newspapers.

The employees chose CEP local 191 in a secret ballot vote held in March but those ballots were not counted until recently because of issues between the parties. Those issues were resolved amicably with the Employer, the votes were counted and the Labour Board issued its certificate today, officially recognizing the employees’ wishes (about 45 people) to be represented by a media union. About 12 distribution employees in a different section of Canstar are already represented by CEP Local 900G.

“The employees want a voice at their newspapers as the owners make radical changes to the product and the workplace,” said Local 191 rep Adolph Setek. “The employees are tired of being overworked, underpaid and most of all, underappreciated.”

Canstar Community Newspapers publishes free weekly neighbourhood-zoned newspapers such as The Herald, The Metro, The Times, The Headliner and The Lance, as well as the entertainment weekly Uptown and The Prime Times, a seniors’ publication. Canstar is owned by FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership ("FPLP"), which also owns the Winnipeg Free Press and The Brandon Sun. CEP Local 191 and 900G represent the employees at the Free Press and Brandon Sun.

Canstar employees now will elect their bargaining committee, prepare proposals and bargain with the Employer for their first Collective Agreement.

CEP Local 191 represents about 1,500 media workers at companies that also include The Winnipeg Sun, Naylor Publications and the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal. CEP represents 150,000 working people coast to coast in energy, paper, telecommunications, graphical, media and is Canada’s largest printing and media union.

For more information, contact:           
Paul McKie, National Representative, 988-1403
Adolph Setek, CEP 191 Local Rep, 949-2770