Local 38010 has reached a tentative agreement
Dear Guild member,
The bargaining committee of Newspaper Guild/CWA Local 38010 has reached a tentative agreement on key economic elements of a new three-year contract that guarantees no layoffs in the first year. Talks continue on other aspects of the bargaining agreement, but we did not want to keep you waiting on details that will most directly impact your pocket.
While the past year has been a stressful time for all of us at the Inquirer and Daily News as our industry has been in freefall and our employer has been in bankruptcy, we believe this contract gives our new owners, PN Purchaser Co., L.L.C., the cost-savings and flexibility they need to move the company forward and transition us into a 24-hour media company of the future. Counting the concessions detailed below and the attrition of employees who have left since 2009, the 2011 Guild payroll will be approximately $6 million less than the 2009 payroll.
The talks started out badly, with the new employer proposing a 13-percent wage cut. The bargaining committee swiftly rejected such an onerous suggestion. Overall what followed was an atmosphere free of the vindictiveness and spite that had often plagued previous negotiations. We expect this spirit of cooperation to continue throughout the contract, and we will demand that the new management team be a true partner in the years ahead – working with us and not against us.
Here are the key concessionary components to the tentative agreement:
1) All full-time members will be required to take 10 unpaid furlough days per year beginning Jan. 1, 2011. Furlough days for part-time members will be pro-rated. Furlough days may be spread throughout the calendar year, subject to the discretion of your supervisor. Furlough days may not be taken during vacation season or at holidays without the permission of your supervisor. The 10 furlough days equal a 4-percent pay cut.
2) All full-time and part-time members will face an additional 2-percent salary reduction upon the effective date of the new contract, which remains unclear. The exception is commission sales staff. Because they will not be subjected to furloughs, there will be a total 6-percent reduction in commission pay.
3) The work week of all full-time employees will increase from 37.5 hours to 40 hours per week.
4) Shift differentials and meal allowances will be eliminated.
Among the good news:
1) The company will provide a 401(k) match of 50 percent of employee contributions up to a maximum employer match of 3 percent. For instance, if you contribute 6 percent of your pay to the fund, the company puts in 3 percent; if you put in 4 percent, the company will add another 2 percent, and so on.
2) Editorial and advertising employees of Philly.com will now be members of the Guild, an acknowledgement of our long-standing claim that they do bargaining-unit work.
3) Seniority has been strengthened. In the newsrooms, core beats (carve-outs to the seniority system) have been eliminated. So has the second tier wage scale intended for new hires. All so-called Tier 2 employees will be merged into the Main Unit editorial seniority list.
4) There is no change to your vacation or sick time.
5) In the second year of the contract, the Guild and the Company will form a subcommittee to create a potential profit-sharing plan that would not go into effect before the third year of the contract.
Stay tuned for news of further developments, including when a ratification vote will be held.
In solidarity,
Dan Gross, President
Howard Gensler, Treasurer
Diane Mastrull, Unit Chair
Bill Ross, Executive Director, and the Executive Board of the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia/CWA Local 38010
