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Number of newsroom managers drops
What a catch! Health care error could have been costly
Take advantage of union perks
Guild sponsors record number of Press Club entries
Number of newsroom managers drops
The number of Journal Sentinel newsroom managers has dropped again. As required by the Guild contract, the company reduced the number of positions excluded from the bargaining unit by one early this year.
This time, the position dropped from the excluded list was the urban affairs editor. It was left vacant when James Causey moved into the night editor’s spot that Russ Maki left to rejoin our unit as a copy editor.
Last year, the company removed exclusions for the database editor (which was later left vacant when Mark Maley moved to CNI) and the News Information Center manager (vacant since Annette Griswold left the company). That brought the number of excluded positions down to 55, not counting interns and the Washington, D.C., bureau.
However, attrition has continued to reduce the number of bargaining-unit jobs faster than the management ranks have been shrinking. By July 1, Guild and management negotiators will open talks on further trims in the number of excluded positions.
What a catch! Health care error could have been
costly
One newsroom worker discovered the health care
estimator
was providing incorrect premium rates and deductibles for some plans.
It wasn’t a computer virus, but a sharp-eyed Guild member correctly diagnosed an ailment afflicting the Journal Communications online health care cost estimator.
The company provided the tool to help us figure the costs of the health care options we select during the open enrollment period ending Feb. 16, for the plan year starting April 1. But when one newsroom worker plugged in the numbers, he discovered the calculator was providing incorrect premium rates and deductibles for the various plans. He contacted a company benefits staffer, who confirmed the problem and corrected it. Anyone who used the health care cost estimator before Jan. 31 should run their numbers again.
Catching an error such as this isn’t easy because the packet we received doesn’t mention what the price of premiums or where to find them. To find that information, employees must sign on to the JRN Focus Web site, click on “Health and Welfare” under “Benefits” on the left-hand menu, then scroll down under “2007/2008 Annual Enrollment” to “Medical Rates 2007/2008” and click on that. If you scroll farther down the “Health and Welfare” page, you can find a link to the 2006/2007 rates, for comparison purposes.
Take advantage of union perks
Need help filing your taxes or planning a vacation?
Want to save money on movie tickets, cruises, Dell computers, online
flower orders or Cingular wireless service?
As a union member, you and your family have access to a long list of
special offers and discounts through the Union Plus program.
You can take advantage of union member-only rates, discounts and
special offers on an array of products and services.
The program uses the collective purchasing power of millions of union
members to offer a wide variety of benefits from credit counseling and
pet health insurance to college scholarships and car rental discounts.
Our local has received a shipment of brochures about the Union Plus
program that will be distributed at the next membership meeting.
In the meantime, check out all of the program’s offerings at
www.UnionPlus.org. The list of services and discounts constantly
changes.
Through the program’s Web site, you can sign up for a free e-mail
newsletter that will make you among the first to know about new and
updated benefits offered through Union Plus.
The Web site is easy to use. It lists the program’s benefits and
discounts by category including money and credit, house and home,
insurance protection, health and well being, family services, travel
and recreation, computers and union marketplace.
There’s even a union discount on new and used books ordered through
the unionized Internet bookseller Powells.com.
Your union membership gives you the protection of a contract and a
stronger voice in the workplace. The Union Plus program puts your union
membership to work in the marketplace.
QUICK HITS AT UNIONPLUS.ORG
- Book a discounted car rental, hotel room or vacation.
- Verify information included in your credit score and understand how your lenders see you.
- Apply for a Union Plus credit card.
- Browse discounted flower arrangements, order flowers and save 15%.
- Order books.
- Get all the information you need on the college application process.
- Find money to pay for continuing education. Search for scholarships and apply for education loans.
Guild sponsors record number of Press Club entries
For the third time in four years, the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild sponsored members’ entries in the Milwaukee Press Club’s Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism contest.
The Guild started sponsoring entries when the company decided to no longer pay the entry fees for newsroom employees. The Guild board this year voted to sponsor up to two entries per Guild member, at $20 an entry.
This year, 20 entries were submitted a record number since the Guild started its sponsorship.
The Milwaukee Press Club’s Web site says winners will be honored at the Gridiron Dinner scheduled for April 28.
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