news
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Pittsburgh Guild Goes on Strike
The 101-member Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh walked out Tuesday at high noon on strike against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The Pittsburgh Guild joins a fellow CWA local and a Teamsters local on the picket lines in the unfair labor practice strike.
Our international TNG-CWA called an emergency ZOOM meeting of Guild local presidents, staff and other officials to provide information about the strike.
The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and TNG-CWA are deep into dealing with the picket line and other strike-related matters. TNG-CWA is working on establishing ways to provide support to our fellow Guild members while they are on strike.
As soon as we know more about providing support we will let everyone know.
For information about what’s going on in Pittsburgh, visit the Pittsburgh Guild’s website.
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Time to Raise Everyone’s Pay
Bargaining Bulletin #10:
The Albany Newspaper Guild presented its comprehensive economic proposal to the Times Union on Wednesday as talks continue for a new contract.
The Guild negotiating team pointed out that inflation is currently 42.84 percent, a significant increase since our last contractual raise in 2007. The Guild also provided management negotiators with current reports from the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics which indicated that the average weekly salary in Albany County is $1,503. Our key pay category (Class C in the contract), at a weekly pay rate of $998.48, is about 66 percent of the County’s average.
Our union proposed a five-year contract, bonuses and pay raises. We are seeking pension and 401K improvements. We also proposed that each unit member receive two cases of Hearst premium vintage wine.
We added a new contract section proposing an annual Cost of Living Adjustment if inflation exceeds 4 percent. This would be in addition to the negotiated pay increases.
We also proposed a formula of one exempt manager for every five Guild-represented employees.
We anticipated the company bargaining team would respond to our proposals on outsourcing and management rights made a week earlier. The company management team didn’t have any counter proposals for these major contract topics they had previously indicated were important to them. Their team said their response to our management rights proposal had not been completed.
Bargaining will resume Nov. 2 and 3.
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Contract Bargaining Back on Track
Bargaining Bulletin #9:
The Albany Newspaper Guild resumed bargaining Wednesday and Thursday for a new contract with the Times Union reaching a tentative agreement on sick leave.
Both sides agreed to short-term disability coverage for members of the Guild unit. Members will no longer have to rely on accumulated sick time or on donations of sick time to cover the six weeks of short-term disability.
Current employees will be able to use accumulated sick time to cover the weeks between the end of short-term and long-term disability to receive their full salaries which would otherwise be 50 percent. The donating of sick time and banking of sick time will end.
The Guild offered counter proposals on outsourcing and job security. These areas led to an impasse being declared during the last round of contract bargaining in 2008-09. The company has not yet responded.
The Guild and Times Union representatives also discussed other topics. Both sides will return to the table on Oct. 12 and Oct 13 to continue negotiations.
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Board Elected
The Albany Newspaper Guild elected a seven-member Executive Board Thursday to serve three-year terms of office.
The new board is composed of President Ken Crowe, Vice President Ty Stewart, Secretary Wendy Liberatore, Treasurer Theresa LaPoint, Chief Steward Rob Gavin, and At-Large Board Members David Johnson and Paul Nelson.
The board members are committed to completing negotiations for a new contract.
“We’ve been fortunate to have an extremely dedicated board for the last three years. The election results guarantee that our local will continue to have strong and involved leadership,” said President Ken Crowe.
“The board’s primary goal continues to be negotiating a new contract for local unit members,” Crowe said.
Crowe, Stewart, LaPoint, Gavin, and Johnson were re-elected to their posts. Liberatore, who was appointed as secretary in August to fill a vacancy, and Nelson won their first elections.
At-Large Board Member Jeff Boyer will leave office at the end of the year
The board takes office Jan. 1, 2023 and serves through Dec. 31, 2025.
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Liberatore appointed Local Secretary
Wendy Liberatore has been appointed unanimously by the local Executive Board as secretary of the Albany Newspaper Guild, Local 31034, TNG-CWA.
Wendy works as a reporter for the Times Union covering Saratoga County.
Wendy has been active as a shop steward, providing advice and serving as a key member of the local’s bargaining team. Wendy completed training in May in Buffalo at the Cornell Industrial Labor Relations School program.
Wendy joins the Executive Board immediately and will serve the remaining months of former local secretary Massarah Mikati, who left to join the Philadelphia Inquirer where she is now a member of the Philadelphia Guild.