Canadian public broadcaster CBC has locked out 5,500 workers after failing to reach an agreement with their union.
Employees have been without contracts for more than a year, and CBC is also planning to recruit new staff on a contract basis rather than full-time.
The broadcaster says it will rely on the 10% of its employees who are not union members to maintain programming.
The lockout took place just after midnight on Monday after last-minute talks broke down.
The Canadian Media Guild said 30% of CBC’s employees were already non-permanent, but the broadcaster had insisted that it needed more flexibility in its workforce.
