OVERVIEW

Nearly all members in the CUPE communications sector work for private sector employers under federal jurisdiction, regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. The sector has approximately 6,100 members, the vast majority (more than 98%) of whom are in Quebec.

Communications sector locals fall into three subsectors:

  • Telecommunications, the largest, has more than 82% of the members and includes cable distribution, telephony and Internet service providers (Cogeco, Telus, Videotron, Rogers, Acronym Solutions, Bruce Telecom, Cochrane Telecom Services).
  • Radio, television and the print media account for around 14% of members in leading media (Groupe TVA, Journal de Québec, Global, RNC Media, Cogeco Media, Bell Media, CTV, Rogers, Vista Radio).
  • Cinematography and post-production (National Film Board of Canada, SETTE, Difuze) account for around 4% of members. This is the only subsector to represent public sector workers (ONF).

The major job types CUPE represents in the communications sector include information technology technicians and specialists, call centre attendants, office staff, journalists, creative technicians (camera operators, switchers, editors, sound integrators and mixers), directors and advertising representatives.

ISSUES

Technological change, outsourcing and regulations

The communications sector is constantly changing due to its significant reliance on ever-evolving technology, which changes users’ consumption habits, companies’ business practices, as well as their supporting legislation and regulations. Substantial changes to work organization, relocations and job losses are often an unfortunate by-product.

At SETTE and TVA, our subtitling members have been hard hit by the use of artificial intelligence in their line of work. Around 50 people lost their jobs in 2023–2024 for this reason.

In telecommunications, employers prefer to automate tasks (using new technologies such as AI) and use subcontractors or “turnkey” contracts, rather than training long-standing employees. The subcontracting ratios allowed in the collective agreements have been on the rise in recent years. As a result, vacancies are not always posted. Therefore, the number of members in the subsector has declined since the pandemic.

This is in addition to uncertainties about the industry’s future. A recent CRTC decision could reduce investment in telecommunications networks. This could impact competitiveness and jobs, as could the loss of subscribers to cable TV, a technology that is losing ground.

A shifting legal environment

The federal government modernized the Broadcasting Act (Act) in 2023 to include streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+. The goal was to restore fairness by imposing operating conditions on these online undertakings, to support the production of Canadian programs aired on radio and television and streamed online. A first CRTC regulatory policy in 2024 required web giants to make base contributions. However, this decision is being contested before the Federal Court of Appeal, blocking the payment of this support to Canadian companies.

CUPE is involved in the regulatory review being conducted by the CRTC following the modernization of the Act, to better protect jobs in electronic media and with cable distributors. However, regulations take such a long time to put into place that the future of our media is far from guaranteed. Radio and television continue to see their advertising and subscription revenues plummet.

To deal with declining advertising revenues at its local TV stations, Quebecor applied a regulatory provision that allowed it to close its MAtv community channel in Montréal, transferring its budget to news production at TVA. Although this helped keep jobs at TVA, it also led to many layoffs at MAtv. It’s a perfect illustration of the saying “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

The implementation of the Online News Act—which requires web giants to share a portion of their profits with the media whose news content they use—is beginning to pay off. Google has pledged $100 million a year for five years to Canadian news media. Part of the amount for 2024 has begun to be distributed, but here again, the slow process puts communications sector employers at a disadvantage. What’s more, Facebook has opted to keep news off its platform completely to avoid having to pay, which has the perverse effect of leaving more room for disinformation.

Corporate structures and union certifications

Communications sector employers have become quite adept at creative corporate structures that get them around union certifications.

At Telus, unionized workers are increasingly isolated at various affiliates, in which non-unionized workers perform the same work. More than 200 jobs could be unionized.

Quebecor (Groupe TVA, Videotron, Journal de Québec) has also moved its unionized employees to non-unionized units in recent years, while demanding that these workers give up their collective agreement to keep their jobs. What’s more, since November 2023, when TVA announced it would lay off over 500 members, the company has moved its operations to the Journal de Montréal offices, and Journal de Québec is getting ready to join TVA’s teams in Québec City.

Moving staff around causes space constraints, as well as potential concerns about union certification and diversity of information.

Underfunding of the National Film Board

The NFB’s stagnating budget along with rising inflation in recent years has led to a considerable loss in its purchasing power, which threatens the jobs of members working for this public film producer.

BARGAINING

Wages, working conditions and job losses

Unionized workers in this sector are paid relatively good wages, but some trades find it hard to retain talent. That is especially the case for IT and middle management positions, where the gap continues to widen between the wages our members earn and the salaries paid by other companies. This has prompted many members to resign, despite losing a better benefit package.

However, due to rising inflation, most locals in the telecommunications subsector have managed to secure more substantial wage increases than in the past, up to 5.5% a year. That is in sharp contrast to the media industry. With media employers facing declining revenues, the negotiated wage increases range from 1% to 3%.

Some employers are beginning to require a return to in-person work, at least part of the time. Not all members are happy about this, which causes division and more complicated bargaining.  

Subcontracting and precarious employment

As the communications sector is nearly entirely private, profit is the predominant goal. In the last several years, there has been an increase in the use of subcontractors, both in Canada and abroad (where wages are lower and working conditions are worse), as well as temporary staff and freelancers.

Despite this, during their last bargaining session, our members at Cogeco succeeded in putting a stop to the hiring of temporary staff. As a result, all local members now work full-time, with the exception of those who have opted for part-time work.

Training

Given the rapid technological advancements and the adoption of AI, it is increasingly important for workers in the sector to receive training and develop their skills.

While some employers have training budgets, others insist that workers are, at least in part, responsible for keeping their job skills up to date.

Pension plans

Nearly all workplaces in this sector offer pension plans. There is a mix of defined-contribution plans, defined-benefit plans and group RRSPs. However, employers in private sector companies that still offer a defined-benefit plan want to scale down benefits to reduce their own risk.

CAMPAIGNS

The sector was involved in the campaign that led the House of Commons to adopt the first anti–replacement worker law, which came into force in June 2025.

It is also getting involved in a national inter-union campaign to stem job losses in the telecommunications subsector.