National Post’s Toronto newsroom staff votes to unionize

TORONTO – Workers in the Toronto newsroom of the National Post have voted in favour of union representation.

About 40 workers are included in the new bargaining unit, said Unifor spokesman Stuart Laidlaw.

The electronic vote, which started Thursday and concluded Friday, came after Unifor said on Sept. 30 it had filed an application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board to represent staff at the newspaper.

The National Post is one of the publications under the banner of parent company Postmedia Network Canada Corp., which as of May had 43 other collective agreements.

Postmedia announced 40 layoffs in May after unions would not approve a temporary salary reduction.

In July, the company reported its quarterly sales were down nearly 30 per cent from the year prior, despite pay cuts, additional layoffs and the closure of15 of its 125 publications.

“The main issues were consistency of pay and job security,” said Laidlaw. “The next step will be to contact the employer to begin work on a first collective agreement.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2020.

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