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Older employees receive smaller pay raises and bonuses, study says
When do I get that week of vacation?
Guild will elect new president, other positions
More leaders enter international races
Arbitration set in 2 cases
Smooth sailing
Column: Make, keep union strong for all of us
Older employees receive smaller
pay raises and bonuses, study says
Feel as if the 2005 merit pay you received last year was a little light?
If you were a full-time journalist over the age of 50 or a part-time employee, you're probably right.
A Guild study found that older employees in the Journal Sentinel newsroom received smaller merit pay boosts than the rest of the staff for 2005, continuing a trend reported for 2004.
That's actual pay, not percentage.
Part-time employees also were often overlooked, routinely receiving merit pay amounts below their full-time counterparts.
The Guild study evaluated the one-time merit bonuses given to all employees for 2005 and regular merit raises given to seven employees - six journalists and one non-journalist - over the course of the same year. The study broke down the pay amounts by race and gender - white women, white men and minorities - and age, full-time vs. part-time status and journalist vs. non-journalist.
Once again, some of the results were skewed by larger than average pay boosts for a few.
For example, both minorities and white women averaged larger pay boosts than white men, but median amounts for those two groups lagged those of white men. Employees in their 20s averaged the highest merit increases or bonuses as a percent of their pay among all the age groups, although that was partially because of their lower base salaries.
On the other hand, employees age 50 and over routinely ranked at the bottom for both average and median merit pay. And when dollar amounts were averaged for full-time journalists, the over-50 crowd also lost out - as a group, they received only $12.10 more a week compared with $15.75 for journalists in their 40s, $14.52 for journalists ages 30 to 39 and $14.56 for journalists under 30. In addition, employees over 50 and part-timers were the only groups not represented in the seven regular merit raises distributed by managers in 2005.
The Guild shared these findings with management through a joint wage study committee established by the 2005-'08 contract. While managers confirmed the accuracy of the data, they said they felt they could justify how merit pay was distributed.
Guild members on the wage study committee were Amy Hetzner, Marie Rohde and Larry Sandler. The company was represented by Marilyn Krause, Paul Sevart and Carl Schwartz.
When do I get that week of vacation?
When you hit an anniversary date that qualifies you for an additional week of vacation, you are eligible to schedule that week as soon as you would like.
Well, that's at least how we thought the system worked.
That was until two longtime newsroom employees each hit a milestone anniversary this year. They were set to schedule another week of vacation until the company told them they would have to wait until 2008 to take the newly earned week off.
We're not exactly sure why this sudden change occurred. It appears to reflect some confusion in the payroll department that might go beyond our bargaining unit.
We have talked with newsroom management, saying our contract allows the additional week to be taken immediately, not that it be delayed until the next calendar year.
The matter still is being discussed, and the Guild has threatened to grieve if it is not resolved appropriately.
In the meantime, if you have been told that a newly earned vacation week had to be delayed until the next calendar year, please let your steward or any other Guild leader know.
Guild will elect new president, other positions
The Milwaukee Newspaper Guild is about to elect a new president.
Local 51 President Jennie Tunkieicz, a Racine County bureau reporter, announced she will not seek a fourth term. Waukesha County bureau reporter Amy Rinard, the Guild's 2nd vice president, has declared her candidacy for the top spot.
Guild members will vote at the annual meeting, at noon Sept. 18 at Turner Hall.
In addition to the president, our chief executive officer and public spokesperson, members will elect nine other Executive Board members: 1st vice president (in charge of grievances and other forms of contract enforcement), 2nd vice president (in charge of membership, mobilizing and communications), secretary (in charge of the Guild office as well as taking minutes of meetings), treasurer (our chief financial officer) and five at-large board members (all expected to be active in committee work and attending board meetings). All those elected will serve one-year terms, starting Oct. 1.
If you're interested in seeking any of those offices, contact Tunkieicz. Nominations will be accepted from the floor.
Also at the membership meeting, we'll vote on whether to keep dues at the level of 1% of base wages. And we will decide how many delegates to send to the international Guild's 2008 Sector Conference, elect those delegates (and maybe some alternates) and pick one to represent us at the Communications Workers of America's international convention as well.
More leaders enter international races
More international union leaders have jumped into the race for The Newspaper Guild's top two full-time positions.
Carol Rothman, the Guild's international chairperson, has announced she will run for secretary-treasurer on Bernie Lunzer's ticket. Lunzer, the incumbent secretary-treasurer, is seeking the Guild presidency. Rothman holds the union's highest volunteer position.
Rothman entered the race after Scott Stephens, a Guild regional vice president, announced he would seek the union's No. 2 paid job as Linda Foley's running mate. Foley, the incumbent president, is seeking re-election.
Stephens and Rothman will face Providence Newspaper Guild Administrator Tim Schick, the first person to declare his candidacy for secretary-treasurer in what is a three-way race.
Rothman works in the classified advertising department of the Philadelphia Inquirer and is treasurer of the Greater Philadelphia Newspaper Guild. Since 1993, she has been international chairperson, presiding over meetings of the International Executive Council and the Guild's annual Sector Conference.
Stephens is a Cleveland Plain Dealer education reporter and chair of the Plain Dealer unit of the Northeastern Ohio Newspaper Guild. As vice president from Region 3, he represents Ohio, Michigan and parts of Indiana, Pennsylvania and New York on the Guild's International Executive Council.
He also was the central figure in a closely watched grievance when Plain Dealer editors tried to discipline him for sending out an e-mail message urging support for Guild members in tough contract talks at the Akron Beacon-Journal. The grievance was settled when management dropped the discipline and agreed the Guild could use the Plain Dealer's e-mail system.
International officers serve three-year terms.
If any race draws more than two candidates, the Guild's Sector Conference in February will serve as the primary, narrowing the choice to two nominees for each post.
All Guild members then can vote next spring in elections for chairperson, president and secretary-treasurer, while the Canadian director and regional vice presidents will be elected by members in the areas they serve.
Arbitration set in 2 cases
Arbitration dates have been set in two cases dealing with employee benefits.
An arbitration hearing will be Sept. 12 for the case involving changes to the pension plan. An arbitration has been set for Oct. 9 in the case of changes made to retiree health benefits.
Arbitrations are scheduled when the Guild and the company can't come to a settlement after a grievance has been filed. A state arbitrator agreed to by both sides hears arguments and issues a decision.
In both cases, changes were made and announced to plans without any prior discussion with the Guild. The Guild argues these represent benefit changes that are part of the contract and need to be part of the negotiating process.
In the pension case, the company dictated that employees hired after May 1, 2006, and non-vested part-timers, would be placed in the new Annual Employer Contribution plan.
A number of changes that reduced benefits were made to the retiree health benefits.
Smooth sailing
Despite bad weather and rain, about 30 Guild members and their guests cruised the Milwaukee River on Aug. 18. The atmosphere was cozy, and the menu included crabcakes, bruschetta, smoked salmon canapés, and a cheese and sausage board. The 51 Cocktail was a blue concoction in which vodka played a starring role.
Make, keep union strong for all of us
| It's with sadness and joy that I tell you this is my last column as president of the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild.
I always will remain involved in some capacity, but it's time for new leadership and for me to make time for other adventures.
I'm sure most of you wouldn't be surprised to learn that the presidency of a bargaining unit that represents about 260 people can take up a bit of time. |
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I remember when I was a new reporter, a part-timer, and just out of college at my first job at the Kenosha News. The Kenosha News was a union shop, which means everyone who works in the newsroom is automatically a member of the Newspaper Guild and is contractually required to pay dues. Still, someone took the time to tell me what the union was about, how they worked for a fair and equitable contract, and that they would be there to help me.
So someone would have my back. I liked that idea. I still do.
Right away, the Kenosha Guild tapped me to get involved with the union. I became an officer rather quickly, serving as secretary. Within six months, when the Guild contract was about to expire, I got involved on the contract bargaining team. I wanted to see how it worked, what it was all about and whether I could help improve the working conditions and benefits for other part-time reporters such as myself. I was hired full time about a year after I started.
That was more than 20 years ago now. That means I've not only been in the newspaper business that long, but I've been involved in the Newspaper Guild that long.
After a few years, I became president of the Kenosha Guild. I was the point-person for all sorts of problems that people in the bargaining unit might encounter.
There were quite a few problems after the paper shifted from being an afternoon publication to a morning paper.
The editor decided that everyone would have to work night shifts. It didn't matter what your beat was, you would have to work at night. A few months after the change, I got a call from a reporter working at 3 p.m. to midnight shift. His shift previously was 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. so it was quite a change.
I told him to come in and we could talk about his problem. We went into a small conference room and closed the door. "Jennie," he said. "This shift change is ruining my life. I can't sleep, I'm tired all the time and worst of all, I haven't had sex in months!" It was one of the few occasions in my life I can say I was speechless.
When my shock wore off, I told him I would talk to the editor about easing the "all night shifts, all the time" policy. Quite frankly, it wasn't working anyway. But, I had to tell him, honestly, there was no article in the contract that required familial relations and he would have to take up with his wife. Sure, we considered ourselves a full service union but not that full service.
Those are the kinds of moments I will miss, but I'm glad that I've experienced.
I'd like to thank many people for being helpful during my years as an officer. I want to single out Larry Sandler, Greg Pearson, Dave Kirner, Bob Helbig, Janine Ghelfi, Amy Rinard, Amy Hetzner and Damien Jaques. I want to thank Darren Carroll, the international representative, and Guild Attorney Barbara Zack Quindel. To all of you, card-carrying members and non-members alike, I want you to keep in mind that it's your union. You must make it and keep it strong. Never forget the importance of having somebody watch your back.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to represent you.
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