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Red Bee Media, union-busting and resistance

As you may have already heard, on 11 April 2018, Red Bee Media (A Part of Ericsson) unceremoniously shuttered the Montreal branch of their Access Services division. A more thorough breakdown of the incident will be forthcoming, but suffice it to say that the shuttering was swift and vicious. Rather than negotiate with the representatives of the Montreal Subtitlers Union in good faith, the powers-that-be at Red Bee Media decided that it would be less trouble to axe their entire Canadian division in one fell swoop. This is not an exaggeration: the workers who were in that day went from performing their usual duties to being ushered into a surprise meeting to being removed from the Ericsson campus by security in the span of 20 minutes.

 

But all hope is not lost. Though our campaign was felled by the twin plagues of corporate greed and union-busting, the Montreal Subtitlers Union lives on. We invite other subtitlers working in Montreal, freelancers and full-timers alike, to band together under our banner to fight for a living wage, fair working conditions, and adequate support for the work that we do. Your fellow workers deserve better. The deaf and hard of hearing community deserve better. And employers deserve to know that we won’t be taken advantage of. The fight continues. Solidarity forever.

 

Media Contact: Selena, 438-345-5046

 

Get in touch with the Montreal Subtitlers Union through our facebook page, or email us at [email protected]

 

The Industrial Workers of the World has many branches around the world, including in Montreal. Its members strive for a union model based on robust working class solidarity called Solidarity Unionism. This model emphasizes direct action at the workplace as exemplified in our campaigns at Ellen’s Stardust Diner in New York City or at So-Frite! in Montreal.

 

French version here.

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Red Bee Media, anti-union and resistance

As you may have already heard, the 11 april 2018 Red Bee Media (part of Ericsson) suddenly closed the Access Services Division of the Montreal branch. A more complete explanation of the incident is yet to come, but the least we can say is that the operation was quick and vicious. Instead of negotiating in good faith with the representatives and representatives of the Union of Subtitlers / Sub-Labeling Machines of Montreal, the leaders of Red Bee Media decided it would be easier to attack at once all their Canadian Division. It is not an exaggeration : workers, going about their usual occupations, were invited es to a surprise meeting, then were fired es Ericsson campus security, all in 20 minutes.

 

But all hope is not lost. Although our country was defeated by the scourges of greed of capitalists and anti-unionism, the Union of Subtitlers / Sub-Labeling Machines of Montreal continues to live. We invite other subtitlers and sub-Labeling Machines working in Montreal, and that they are freelance or full time, to come together under our banner to fight for decent pay, fair working conditions and adequate support for the work we do. Your co-workers deserve better. The deaf and hard of hearing community deserves better. And employers deserve to know that we will not be exploited es. The fight goes on. Solidarity forever.

 

media Contact: Selena, 438-345-5046

 

Get in touch with the Union Subtitlers / Sub-Labeling Machines of Montreal through our page facebook, or send us an email to [email protected].

 

The Industrial Union of Workers and Workers (SITT-IWW) has several branches all over the world, including the Montreal Local. Its members are fighting for a union model based on strong solidarity between the working class, called solidarity unionism. This model encourages direct action on the workplace as can attest to our campaigns Ellen’s Stardust Diner New York and So-Frite! to Montreal.

 

English version here.

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The quality at Ericsson?

Cuts in quality control

Throughout my career in the Access Services department at Red Bee Media / Ericsson, I developed a certain eagerness to produce high quality subtitles for all audiences, whatever the program content or the channel broadcasting the. The same can be said of my colleagues. One might think that this kind of pride in offering high quality services to téléspectateur.rice.s malentendant.e.s would be shared and encouraged by the lead. In place, I have observed recurrent cuts in quality control programs, sacrificed in favor of higher profits. The logic behind these practices is that all the work invested in the revision, proofreading and improving our business could be more "productively" used in the production of a greater amount of subtitles. Inevitably, subtitles come out lower quality. The cuts are particularly pronounced in North America offices, to Montreal (QC) et Duluth (GA), who are new to the landscape and have been targeted by the objectives of reducing overall operating costs implemented by management.

As part of their subtitling activities and administrative tasks associated with them, Deputy titreur.euse.s regularly confronté.e.s the last remnants of a quality control infrastructure now moribund. Before addressing the issue of infrastructure itself, it is important to understand that in terms of precision, the live subtitling is a very imperfect process. The sub-titreur.euse.s must take editorial decisions on the fly and a voice recognition software can be a fickle friend. Live Captions can be either created from scratch by the sub-titreur.euse.s (i.e. "Live repetition"), be produced from text prepared and provided by the broadcaster, or (in the case of repeated content) they can be text broadcasts created in advance. Originally, chez Red Bee Media / Ericsson, when the text was to be transmitted in this way, it had to be replayed after the first transmission to ensure that all subsequent transmissions have an almost perfect accuracy. Today, this process no longer takes place. The result is that the same errors are repeated for transmission to the other. Attempts to correct errors on the fly are often prevented by technical problems. Over the years, Similar reductions replay process was put in place regarding the captioning of pre-recorded programs.

Ignore the demands of employees

When preparing to caption a live program, every minute is precious. However, Deputy titreur.euse.s often have a completed copy of typos and spelling. Sometimes, he also left with an odd layout that must be meticulously modified to create compliant subtitles guidelines and the customer's style. In the course of the past year, preparation time allocated to subtitled live programs was almost unilaterally cut in half. Management has repeatedly ignored requests subtitling staff and training to increase the preparation time for some live programs. It argues that going travailleur.euse.s “s’adapter” new requirements, when even the sub-titreur.euse.s expérimenté.e.s struggling to fulfill the bare minimum in terms of preparation work.

Chez Red Bee Media / Ericsson, the main quality control measures in place to ensure the accuracy of live subtitles is the detailed examination of the work of sub-titreur.euse.s. In the British wing of Operations, long established, Deputy titreur.euse.s are examiné.e.s three times a month: once a eux.elles themselves, once a un.e pair.e, and once by support staff. During the last year, the direction of North American operations eliminated exams by pair.e.s and cars-exams, and eliminated the system which provided a wide variety of work was revised. The sub-titreur.euse.s not have so very little information about how to improve their work.

A quality control problem seems particularly egregious. Ringer's cas d'un.e employé.e daltonien.ne here about the ranking in coloriser du texte pour les émissions britanniques. Cet.te employé.e was told repeatedly that accessibility accommodations are not provided to travailleur.se.s because the color of the text is not a high priority for broadcasters. Note that téléspectateur.rice.s, and not broadcasters, are subtitles of utilisateur.rice.s. In many areas, color changes are the only method used to indicate a change of speaker. Le.a téléspectateur.rice has the right to expect that the sub-titreur.euse.s at least try to use colors accurately. In that case, the direction of Red Bee Media / Ericsson doubly fails: it fails meet its téléspectateur.rice.s and meet its employé.e.s. The blasé attitude of the management of access services to its accessibility responsibilities for its own employé.e.s gives a disturbing idea of ​​his attitude to accessibility services in general.

Disinterest possible improvements

these cuts, as well as removing a bulletin informing travailleur.euse.s on the access services sector in general, underline the disinterest of management to provide high quality access services to its customers. The management of Red Bee Media and Access Services Ericsson has clearly indicated that many broadcasters for which we produce subtitles do not care about the quality of subtitles, and have often used this argument to justify decisions to reduce or eliminate quality control measures mentioned above. Contempt Officer of Red Bee Media / Ericsson téléspectateur.rice.s for using the product is clear.

When travailleur.euse.s are informé.e.s as improving their work is a waste of time, there is something wrong – when téléspectateur.rice.s in the deaf and hearing communities lésé.e.s with a priority placed on profits at the expense of individuals, the injury is doubly shameful.

 

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The union of the sub-office printers and Montreal captionists currently seeking to negotiate its first collective agreement with Red Bee Media / Ericsson, a company that has refused to negotiate effective 21 mars 2018. The travailleur.euse.s demand fair wages and global operations based on breaks, and the late model shifts grueling currently in place.

 

Solidarity,

The union of the sub-office printers and captionists Montreal.

In english

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Quality in the house of Ericsson?

Cutbacks in quality control

In my time as a subtitler with Red Bee Media / Ericsson’s Access Services department, I have come to develop an eagerness to produce high-quality captions for all audiences, regardless of the content or the network it broadcasts on. The same is true for my colleagues. One might expect that this kind of pride in providing a high-quality service to hearing-impaired viewers would be shared and even encouraged by the operation’s management, but instead, I have observed the repeated slashing of quality control measures in the interest of increasing profitability. The logic goes that any labour spent reviewing, proofreading, and improving our work could be more “productively” deployed in the production of a greater quantity of subtitles. This necessarily results in a poorer quality of subtitles. The cutbacks are especially pronounced in the North American offices in Montréal, QC and Duluth, GA, which are new to the operation and which management has established will be the main target for cost-saving in the global operation.

In the course of creating subtitles and performing associated administrative duties, subtitlers are regularly confronted by the skeletal remains of now-defunct quality control infrastructure. Before I discuss this infrastructure, it’s important to understand that with respect to accuracy, live subtitling is an especially imperfect process. Subtitlers must make editorial decision on the fly, and voice recognition software can be a fickle friend. Live subtitles may be created from scratch by subtitlers (i.e. “live respeaking”), they may be produced based on prepared text provided by the broadcaster, or (in the case of repeated content) they might be re-transmissions of text which has already been created. In previous years at Red Bee Media / Ericsson, when text was to be re-transmitted in this way, it would be proofread after the first transmission, ensuring that all subsequent transmissions would have near-perfect accuracy. Today, there is no such process. The result is that the same errors transmit over and over again. Attempts to correct errors on the fly are often thwarted by technical issues. When it comes to subtitling pre-recorded programmes, there has been a similar scaling back of proofreading over the years.

Ignoring the workers’ requests

In the process of preparing to caption a programme live, every minute is precious. Subtitlers are often provided with copy that is rife with typos and spelling mistakes, or which contains bizarre formatting that must be meticulously stripped out in order to create captions that conform to regulator guidelines and client house styles. In the past year, the preparation time allotted for live-subtitled programmes has been almost unilaterally cut in half. Management has repeatedly ignored requests from captioning and training staff to increase allotted prep time on certain live programmes. They contend that workers will “adapt” to the new requirements, never mind that even experienced subtitlers often struggle to complete the barest minimum of prep work.

At Red Bee Media / Ericsson, the main established quality-control measure for ensuring accuracy of live subtitles is detailed reviews of subtitlers’ work. In the long-established UK wing of the operation, subtitlers are reviewed three times a month: once by themselves, once by a peer, and once by support staff. In the past year, the managers of the North American operation have eliminated both peer reviews and self-reviews, and have eliminated the system which ensured that a wide variety of work is reviewed. The result is that subtitlers are left with very little insight into where improvements must be made.

One quality control issue stands out to me as particularly egregious. In this case, a colourblind employee who had difficulty colourizing text for UK broadcasts was repeatedly told that accessibility accommodations will not be provided to workers because accurately colourizing the text isn’t a high priority for broadcasters. It’s worth noting that television viewers, not broadcasters, are the users of subtitles. In many regions, colour changes are the only method used to indicate a change of speaker. The viewer has the right to expect that subtitlers would at least try to use colours accurately. In this case, Red Bee Media / Ericsson management is failing doubly: it is failing its viewers as well as its employees. The blasé attitude of Access Services managers towards its accessibility responsibilities to its own workers provides a disturbing insight into its attitudes about accessibility services generally.

Disdain for improvements

These cutbacks – as well as the discontinuation of a newsletter which used to inform workers about the access services industry generally – underscore management’s disinterest in providing high-quality access services to its clients’ viewership. Red Bee Media / Ericsson Access Services management have made it clear that many of the broadcasters for whom we produce subtitles don’t care about the quality of the subtitles, and have frequently used this reasoning to support decisions to scale back or eliminate the above-mentioned quality control measures. Red Bee Media / Ericsson management’s disregard for the viewers that use its product is clear.

When workers are told improving their work is a waste of time something is amiss – when viewers in the deaf and hard of hearing communities are harmed by putting profits over people, the injury is doubly shameful.

 

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The Montreal Subtitlers Union is currently seeking to negotiate its first Collective Agreement with Red Bee Media / Ericsson, a company that refused to negotiate as of March 21, 2018. The workers are asking for fair wages and break based on the global operation, and an end to gruelling shift-patterns.

 

Solidarity,

The Montreal Subtitlers Union.

In French

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Montreal-Based Subtitlers Serving Canada’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community Form Union

Today March 15, 2018 another community of skilled workers in Montreal have chosen to join the Industrial Workers of the World in the fight against exploitation.

 

Subtitlers working for the telecommunications giant Ericsson, who produce subtitles (captions) for broadcast television in Canada and the United Kingdom, have seen the quality of their work degrade as their working conditions continue to worsen.

 

These Ericsson Canada employees are directly managed by Red Bee Media, a British subsidiary owned by Ericsson. Red Bee Media is responsible for delivering captions to homes across Canada for Corus Entertainment (Global News). The service they provide is essential to the deaf and hard of hearing community in Canada, and deserves to be of the highest quality.

 

However, while subtitlers working for Ericsson / Red Bee Media, in France, Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdom are unionized, the company has been shifting production to North America where workers can be exploited without pesky labour rights. As a result of unsustainable poverty wages, long hours, inadequate breaks, and a complete lack of respect for the people that caption here in Montreal, Canadian news consumers are left with a lower quality service.

 

The differently abled community of Canada deserves better than subtitles delivered by hungry, tired, and disrespected workers.

 

We call on Ericsson Canada to live up to the standards they set for themselves in their code of business ethics, and respect the fact that “all persons should be free to peacefully and lawfully form and join… workers’ associations of their own choosing, and should have the right to bargain collectively” by voluntarily recognizing the union, and beginning good-faith negotiations.

 

The Industrial Workers of the World has many branches around the world, including in Montreal. Its members strive for a union model based on robust working class solidarity called Solidarity Unionism. This model emphasizes direct action at the workplace as exemplified in our campaigns at Ellen’s Stardust Diner in New York City or at So-Frite! in Montreal.

 

The IWW is excited to welcome the fellow workers at Ericsson / Red Bee Media into the struggle for just and sustainable working conditions.

 

Media contact: Selena 438-345-5046

In French.

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Captionists and sub-Labeling Machines montréalais.e.s serving the deaf and hard of hearing community in Canada form a union

Today, the 15 mars 2018, a new community of qualifié.e.s Workers of Montreal chose to join the Industrial Union of Workers and Workers in their fight against exploitation.

 

Captionists and sub-office printers working for the telecommunications giant Ericsson, which produces subtitles for broadcasting in Canada and the UK, have seen the quality of their work deteriorate like their working conditions.

 

Ericsson Canada employé.e.s are under the direction of Red Bee Media, a UK subsidiary owned by Ericsson. Red Bee Media is responsible for producing and delivering subtitles for Corus Entertainment in Canada (Global News). This service is essential for the deaf community in Canada and it deserves the highest quality.

 

However, while captionists and sub-Labeling Machines Ericsson and Red Bee Media in France, in Australia, Spain and the UK are syndiqué.e.s, the company has chosen to relocate its production in North America, leaving the door wide open to exploitation. Because of unsustainable wages, long working hours, inadequate breaks and a lack of respect for workers, consumers receive a lower quality service.

 

Different deaf and hearing communities of Canada deserve better subtitles created by workers fatigué.e.s, affamé.e.s and lésé.e.s.

 

We demand that Ericsson Canada respects the norms and standards that they have set themselves in their professional code of ethics and respects the fact that "all people should be free to form and peacefully and lawfully join associations of workers of their choice and should have the right to bargain collectively" voluntarily recognize the union and by initiating proper negotiations faith.

 

The Industrial Union of Workers and Workers (SITT-IWW) has several branches all over the world, including the Montreal Local. These members are fighting for a union model based on strong solidarity between the working class, called solidarity unionism. This model encourages direct action on the workplace as can attest to our campaigns Ellen’s Stardust Diner New York and So-Frite! to Montreal.

 

The SITT-IWW is pleased to welcome our friends from Ericsson and Red Bee Media in the struggle for better working conditions.

 

media Contact: Selena 438-345-5046

In english

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