As reported today by Broadcast Dialogue, one hundred and twenty-nine full-time and 38 part-time employees at CHCH-TV Hamilton saw their jobs terminated last Friday. Any regular pay, accrued vacation and expense reimbursements were paid out that day but there were no severance packages.
Channel 11 L.P., the entity that has created local news for CHCH since 2009 and which did the dismissals, has in turn filed for bankruptcy. Immediately after the terminations, 58 of the full-timers and 23 part-time employees were given offers of employment for comparable positions and wages. The offers did not come from Channel Zero nor CHCH-TV but rather from a privately held numbered company.
The moves will allow CHCH to remain on-air and to deliver local news. Channel Zero points the finger of blame directly at the phased-out Local Programming Improvement Fund along with lower national advertising revenue.
Among those who were dismissed and not offered a deal under the new employment agreement are: 33-year veteran Matt Hayes 
;
anchor Mark Hebscher 
;
sports director/anchor Ken Welch 
;
anchor Natalie Marconi 
;
35-year veteran Scott Urquhart 
;
26-year reporter/anchor/producer Donna Skelly 
; health & lifestyle reporter Elise Copps; 30-year veteran reporter Lauran Sabourin; anchor/videographer/live reporter Melissa Raftis; reporter Cindy Csordas; and Michael Miles, digital news producer for CHCH.com…
Broadcast Dialogue website
Related story on PSR HERE
