By: Kelly Townsend 

TVO union workers could be on strike over wages and temporary employment contracts as early as Friday (Aug. 18).

The Canadian Media Guild (CMG), the union that represents about 74 producers, journalists and education workers at the Ontario public broadcaster, announced on Tuesday (Aug. 15) that its members will be in legal strike position at the end of the week. Union members rejected a collective agreement offer earlier this month.

“Workers feel they are being forced to take job action that will interrupt services the public relies on, such as The Agenda with Steve Paikin, TVO Today’s Ontario-focused journalism, children’s programming, and online courses used by teachers in schools across the province,” wrote CMG in a statement.

The union has scheduled a rally for Wednesday (Aug. 16) in front of Canada Square in Toronto to support TVO workers.

CMG said it has been “unable to make progress at the bargaining table” over two key issues: temporary worker contracts and wage increases.

The union alleges that a threat was made to cut jobs at TVOKids and flagship current affairs program The Agenda with Steve Paikin after TVO refused a stipulation to turn temporary education workers into permanent employees after 24 months of temporary employment, during the bargaining process.

A spokesperson for TVO denied the allegation in a statement to Playback Daily, claiming it has been “grossly misrepresented by some on social media.”

Regarding wage increases, CMG has said that the most recent collective agreement offer included increases of 2.75%, 2.5% and 1.75% over three years, as well as a possible increase of 1.75% in year four. The union argues that these increases fall below the inflation rate, which hit 3.3% in July, according to Statistics Canada.

When asked for comment on the strike deadline, a spokesperson for TVO referred Playback to an Aug. 2 statement, which said “TVO believes that the best route forward is to continue negotiations toward a fair agreement.”

A version of this story originally appeared in Kidscreen‘s sister publication Playback.