It was a bleak Friday last week when Nordstar’s Metroland dropped a bombshell on media workers, stating that it has sought bankruptcy protection, shutting down 70 community newspaper print editions and putting 605 people out of work (60% of its workforce).
Hours later, Unifor Local 87-M – which represents media workers across southern Ontario, including large daily newspapers Hamilton Spectator, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and the Toronto Sun – responded to the news that blindsided its members, with Carleen Finch, president of Unifor Local 87-M stating “the gloves are off.”
The union bemoaned the move, stating that the media giant refuses to pay collectively bargained termination severance, voluntary departure deferred salary payments or post-retirement benefits.
“We will use every and all legal actions at our disposal to fight this inhumane treatment of our members, many of whom spent their whole careers at their paper serving their communities,” added Finch.
Metroland parent company Nordstar’s announcement on Friday cited “substantial declines in both print advertising and the flyer business” as the reason behind its decision to file for protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, adding that “the community newspaper business is no longer viable in printed form.”
“The decline of the print and flyer distribution business was significantly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and by the reduction of flyer usage both by readers and advertisers as a marketing vehicle,” Nordstar said in its statement.
The company stated that it plans to move 70 community newspapers to digital-only, while its entire flyer business will be completely terminated. Some of its daily papers, however, will continue their print editions, including the Hamilton Spectator, Peterborough Examiner, St. Catharines Standard, Waterloo Region Record, Niagara Falls Review and the Welland Tribune.
Mark Newman, chair of the union members at Hamilton Community News, one of the papers affected by the layoffs, said in Unifor’s statement that he was “shocked and appalled that the company would do this to us after we bargained in good faith.””Local news gathering is going to die right across southern Ontario as a result of this action by Metroland and to not pay severance to dedicated journalists who have worked hard for decades is despicable,” he added.
The decision to file for bankruptcy comes after failed talks to merge Postmedia with Nordstar in July. If the deal had not fallen through, Postmedia would have transfered dozens of its newspapers to Metroland, with the Toronto Star being managed seperately.
Nordstar also blamed “existential challenges” for the print editions’ demise, criticizing digital tech giants like Google and Meta for using “their dominant positions to take the vast majority of the advertising revenue in Canada.”
Adding to the pressure cooker was the passing of the Online News Act (Bill C-18) in June, a legislative effort designed to force large tech companies to negotiate with Canadian news outlets and ultimately share revenues generated by online advertising in this country. In response, Meta began the process of removing news access for Canadian Facebook and Instagram users in early August, maintaining it gets no economic value from users or outlets sharing news and, as a result, avoiding the terms of Bill C-18.
