Members asked to approve buyout offer
Vote Thursday on plan with 2 weeks’ pay for each year of service with caps
September 28, 2015
The Company is offering an across-the-board buyout for employees after negotiating terms with Guild leaders. Before the offer becomes official, members must vote on the plan this Thursday.
The offer is for two weeks for every year of service, with a minimum of 15 weeks and maximum of 52. Employees would get health insurance for the same period of time.
For employees in advertising, commissions would be calculated as part of the package.
The Company would not challenge unemployment claims, but employees would have to answer questions honestly, disclosing they received a severance package.
A vote on the buyout offer will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. and 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday in the advertising conference room. Guild leaders will discuss the proposed offer at noon and at 5:30 p.m.
The deadline to apply would be Thursday, October 15. The Company will decide which applications it accepts.
“We do not like to see any more positions cut as our members are doing more and more work with pay that has been stagnant for 8 years,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “On the other hand, we would much rather see employees leave voluntarily with cash in their pocket and health care coverage.”
The Company has said the buyout will also be offered to exempt employees.
3 Comments
Skeets
At this time, has the company made any for-public-consumption statement of how many buyouts they will accept, or whether they are targeting certain departments or subdepartments?
Tim O'Brien
No, they have not specified any departments or subdepartments. They didn’t want to be tied to a number, but said it would vary depending on the pay rate of those who took it. The offer is being made to nonunion middle managers as well.
Bongard
I would guess that if the union had accepted the company’s “offer” of allowing it to pick and choose on layoffs, there would be no buyouts — just people sent packing with a week’s pay, like they did to long-term employees at the Record. Thank you for all your work.