Can't say about the CBC lockout, but as to contracting out: I think workers and progressives should welcome it. The truth as I see it is that pensions and benefits *shouldn't* be the responsibility of the employers. They are the responsibility of the *society*--our fundamental duty to look after each other. Yes, that will mean higher taxes, and that is where the businesses must be made to pay their equitable share. In the short run, it sucks for working people who lose benefits and pensions etc. In the longer run, though, losing these kinds of advantages from the "benevolent" corporate masters might help wake somepeople up to the true nature of the biz-worker relationship, and mobilize working people to working for and supporting progressive political movements.