Unifor Media Council 2025 Recap

The 31^st annual Unifor Media Council took place October 16^th-19^th in lovely Victoria, British Columbia.  We had well over 100 attendees from 14 different Unifor media locals across the country.  The four-day event featured caucus meetings, seminar presentations, guest speakers and social events. Media Action Plan was well represented with our entire executive board in attendance!

The council kicked off Thursday with caucus meetings for delegates and observers from broadcast and newspaper sectors. Each local union had the opportunity to bring up their biggest collective bargaining issues from the past year.  The caucus strategized on how to confront those problems as a union.  On Friday, Unifor’s Western Regional Director Gavin McGarrigle addressed the council with an update on strikes and union victories around the country.  Friday’s keynote speaker Tchadas Leo from CHEK News spoke about his career as a mixed-heritage journalist and the lack of representation for indigenous people in this industry.

One of the highlights Saturday, was a presentation by Freshet News – the first newspaper co-op in western Canada. Founded by 4 journalists who were laid off earlier this year by Glacier News, they have launched the digital side of their media business and plan to have a print publication out early next year. Simultaneously, we had a seminar on mental health in the newsroom delivered by Unifor Media Director Randy Kitt. He spoke through his personal experiences and research on mental health: “When you are attached to the process and not the outcomes, your mind can be free of negative thoughts of failure.”

On Saturday afternoon, MAP chairperson Trevor Dixon and MAP social media administrator Oliver Macklem presented on behalf of Media Action Plan.  Oliver spoke about the social media discourse from the past year on the MAP platforms, while Trevor shared the Fact Check Here campaign with the group.

Keynote speaker Jim Stanford gave the group a valuable economics lesson with regards to the Trump tariffs on Sunday morning. He was followed by Unifor National president Lana Payne, who spoke of the struggles facing our union and her vision to confront these issues. “We must have the courage to push back and fight for the kind of world that we actually know is possible” Payne said.   These two outstanding speakers capped off a productive and inspirational media council 2025!