Bargaining begins Tuesday, June 24

The wait is over. We’ve got bargaining dates. We’ll be meeting all day on Tuesday, June 24, starting at 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, and all day on Thursday and Friday, June 26 and 27. By then, the Company should be thoroughly convinced and in fact decide to give us even bigger raises than we propose.

OK, so it might not go that fast. In fact, traditionally we don’t propose wage increases, upgrades or negotiated commissions until later. We first try to get as many of the non-economic issues off the table as we can first.

This year’s committee will include Local President Tim O’Brien, Mary Fultz of Editorial, Stacy Wood of Advertising and John DeMania of Circulation. International Representative Jim Schaufenbil will again be joining us with his wit, wisdom and good advice.

To those who have been through this before, we know we can rely on your support. To people who have been hired since the current contract was bargained, you’re about to get a close-up view of the benefits of having a union.

As always, the strength of any contract we get is not based solely on the eloquence of our bargaining committee. It is through the activism of our membership. United, we’re strong.