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51: January/February 2009
No new contract as negotiations stall
Members, unite and meet
Company aims to block alternative board slate
Sick Leave ordinance would affect JS employees
News in brief
Contract includes more than just pay
No new contract as negotiations stall
As this newsletter went to press, bargaining on a new Milwaukee Newspaper Guild contract was at a standstill, but the old contract remained fully in force.
Journal Sentinel Inc. temporarily suspended contract talks with the Guild in November.
At the time, management negotiators said that the economic downturn had prompted the company to ask all departments to review their 2009 budgets and that bargaining would not resume until that review was completed. They indicated this is a companywide bargaining freeze that also affects the electricians’ union, which was preparing to open negotiations.
Later, company bargainers said they were rethinking their overall negotiating strategy in light of the economic downturn.
Since July, the Guild and the company have been discussing noneconomic matters and have reached tentative agreements on many of those contract provisions. Neither side has presented a complete wage proposal yet. The company also has not presented its vacation proposal.
The Guild asked to continue bargaining on non-economic matters, but the company declined. Here are some answers from our Bargaining Committee to several frequently asked questions about the situation:
Q. What happened when the contract expired Dec. 31?
A. Nothing. Our current contract has a clause that automatically extends all of its provisions while negotiations continue on a new agreement. The company has proposed eliminating the automatic extension clause in the next contract, while the Guild is seeking to keep it.
Q. Does that extension include the job security provisions?
A. Yes. Any economic downsizing still requires the company to provide 60 days’ notice or 60 days’ pay, plus two weeks of severance pay for each year of service. In negotiations on the next contract, the company is seeking to provide only legally required notice (still 60 days, but only when a large percentage of workers is being cut) and to slice the severance pay in half, to one week for each year of service, the same as in other Journal Sentinel unions’ contracts. Guild negotiators have said that keeping the current job security protection is a high priority.
Q. What about raises?
A. Until we agree on a new contract, we won’t be getting across-the-board raises, and the minimum pay scales and differential rates will not increase. Management is still free to give merit raises and bonuses, but few people usually get them until a new contract is in place.
Members, unite and meet
It’s February. The skies are gray and grim.
Brighten your Feb. 24 lunch break by attending the Guild’s membership meeting.
We’ll start at noon on the second floor of Turners. Free lunch, a bargaining update and a few laughs are promised.
Company aims to block alternative board slate
Journal Communications has moved to thwart a rare contest in this year’s election for the company’s board of directors.
A slate of three former employees has filed to run for the board. They are Paul E. Kritzer, former general counsel; Douglas D. Armstrong, former business reporter and movie critic; and John B. Torinus Jr., former Milwaukee Sentinel business editor.
The company has sought to exclude the alternative slate from its proxy listing, and a January ruling by the Securities and Exchange Commission seems to leave it up to the Journal Communications board whether the alternative slate will be listed.
On its Web site, journalshareholders.com, the alternative group says it is studying other options to mount a challenge if it is excluded from the proxy.
Some members have asked whether the Guild would take a position in this election, but our Executive Board has not done so at this time. Neither the alternative slate nor the incumbents have sought our support, and neither group has laid out a platform that specifically addresses union issues. While the corporate board deals with many matters that could affect employees, most day-to-day labor relations decisions are handled by management.
According to the company’s 2008 proxy statement, the board terms of David J. Drury, Jonathan Newcomb and Roger D. Peirce expire at the annual meeting this year. The board has nine directors.
Proxies usually are sent in March. The annual meeting is held in April or May.
Sick Leave ordinance would affect JS employees
The Milwaukee sick leave ordinance now being challenged in court could have a significant impact on everyone in the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild’s bargaining unit.
If upheld, the ordinance would require all private-sector employers to allow every worker in the city — full-time, part-time or temporary — to earn one hour of paid sick leave for each 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of nine days a year at large companies (but capped at five days for small businesses).
At the Journal Sentinel, that would provide sick leave to part-timers and temps for the first time. The Guild has repeatedly sought sick leave for part-timers in contract talks, but the company has always refused.
The ordinance also says that workers can use that time not only for their own illnesses but also to take care of sick family members or to deal with issues arising from domestic violence or stalking. That part would affect Journal Sentinel full-timers because, officially, we’re not supposed to use our sick days unless we’re sick ourselves.
Many other questions about how the company would apply the ordinance remain unclear, including whether it would extend the ordinance’s provisions to employees in bureaus outside the city and whether full-time employees’ sick leave would be changed in any way. Guild representatives have asked those questions but have not received answers.
Milwaukee voters approved the ordinance in a November referendum that bypassed elected officials. On Feb. 6, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge issued an injunction that blocked the ordinance from taking effect Feb. 10. That means nothing will happen until the courts resolve a lawsuit filed by business groups.
News in brief
Richards replaces McClain on Executive Board
Milwaukee Newspaper Guild members have elected metro reporter Erin Richards to fill the remainder of Dani McClain’s term as an at-large Executive Board member.
McClain left her job as a metro reporter to take a position with a California-based advocacy organization. At our December meeting, the membership picked Richards to serve until Sept. 30.
After the election, Richards also was selected to replace McClain as our human rights chair. That term runs until October.
More jobs lost in Journal Sentinel Inc.
Another round of layoffs hit Journal Sentinel Inc. employees in December, but no one from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newsroom was affected.
Management declined to confirm details of the latest downsizing. However, various sources have told Milwaukee Newspaper Guild leaders that anywhere from 20 to 50 workers were cut. It’s possible the larger number includes other parts of Journal Communications, because we’ve heard of several layoffs at the suburban weeklies in the Journal Community Publishing Group.
In response to repeated questions from Guild representatives through early February, managers have said they have no plans for further downsizing in the newsroom at this time.
Health care enrollment deadline is near
If you haven’t already, don’t forget to enroll for health care benefits.
If you forget to enroll, you won’t be continued in the same plan you are in, as has been the case in the past. This year, Journal Communications is threatening to drop people from health care if they don’t enroll.
Let’s not take the chance that will happen. Deadline for enrolling is Feb. 18, but there will be an additional one-week grace period after that to enroll or make changes in your selections.
If you have any questions, contact a Guild representative.
Don't forget to take your TVA
If you haven’t used much of your vacation time through the Transitional Vacation Accounts, it’s time to start planning. The TVA weeks need to be used up by the end of 2011.
TVAs, which are extra vacation weeks, were established when Journal Sentinel Inc. implemented an earn-as-you-go vacation policy for people hired after the merger. The TVAs were negotiated for anyone hired after the merger and before Jan. 1, 2006. The total of TVA weeks you received at the start of the program was equal to the number of vacation weeks you had in 2006. (For example, someone with three weeks of vacation in 2006 received three weeks of TVA.)
Some people still have three to four weeks of TVA to use. The Guild has asked newsroom management to remind supervisors that TVA time needs to be used in the next three years.
So, if you have multiple weeks remaining, it’s worth asking your supervisor about using some of it. The contract provision on TVA does allow those who started with four weeks of TVA to be paid in cash for the fourth week if it cannot be scheduled before Dec. 31, 2011.
Party with your friends and coworkers March 1
It’s been a long, looong winter. To shake off the blues, the Guild invites everyone in our bargaining unit — Guild members and nonmembers — to the Winter Bailout Party on Sunday, March 1, at Bootlegger’s, 1025 N. Old World Third St.
A hearty buffet and drinks (bloody Mary’s, anyone?) is planned. Come prepared to meet and mingle, and of course share your thoughts as we bargain during challenging times. As we did with the last party, an “idea box” will be put out if you’d like to share concerns or ideas.
Festivities start at 2 p.m. And yes, bring a spouse or date.
Contract includes more than just pay
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Greg Pearson |
When our health care packets arrived late last month, you may have noticed this note: "Journal Communications will most likely move to all HSA plans — effective April 1, 2010."
Well, not quite yet.
The Guild’s contract requires the company to provide a standard plan since some people still like to have options when it comes to health care. Such a plan was offered this year.
Would the change to all Healthcare Spending Accounts have occurred this year without that contract provision? Probably.
Will it happen in 2010? Not without the company having to negotiate such a change with the Guild.
It’s the most recent example of the benefits the Guild brings to you and the newsroom.
Contract negotiations — such as the insurance provision that requires a standard plan — are a key part of what the Guild does.
We all know about the big stuff in the contract — pay raises, overtime provisions, vacation benefits. But there are plenty of items some of us may take for granted — everything from differentials to time off for funerals — that are benefits derived from our contract.
Negotiations for our next contract started last year but have been on hold, as of when I’m writing this, since about Thanksgiving while the company examines its financial picture.
The Guild’s negotiating team, which includes chairman Larry Sandler, Dave Kirner, Janine Ghelfi and Amy Rinard, has worked hard from the beginning of the process to bargain for a contract that will continue to provide benefits to newsroom employees.
Those four have received help from others. Guild vice presidents Sonya Jongsma Knauss and Karen Samelson have assisted with bargaining, and Susanne Rust, chairwoman of the Guild’s Health & Safety Committee, played a key role during discussion of the drug-testing policy.
The long hours the negotiators put in often go unnoticed, but these folks deserve our thanks.