The CBC has locked out 5,500 unionized workers after prolonged negotiations failed to produce a contract. “Viewers of CBC Newsworld awoke yesterday morning to a prolonged period of dead air on their screens, and a lengthy set of Canadian music on the CBC’s Radio 1, in place of the top-rated Metro Morning program. Taped material was continually spun throughout the day on the radio service, punctuated by brief hourly news reports by unfamiliar announcers. Each report was followed by a taped apology for the absent programs, which it blamed on a “labour dispute.”