The Albany Newspaper Guild Diversity Committee has called on Times Union management to immediately issue a public and sincere apology following public outcry over the newspaper’s ad solicitation strategy for Black History Month. 

Members of the Capital Region on Friday, Feb. 5, received an email from the newspaper’s advertising department about the planned Black History Month special section, offering advertising space in the section ranging in price from $875 to over $3,000. 

This email was received by many Black members of our community, who found it offensive and racist. The community criticized the Times Union for exploiting Black History Month to make a profit, and for charging Black business owners exorbitant prices to place advertisements in a predominantly white newspaper during a month meant to celebrate their community’s successes and legacies.

Committee members, supported by the Guild’s Executive Board, issued a letter to Times Union executives late Tuesday condemning the company’s actions.

“Needless to say, asking Black business owners — particularly during a global pandemic that has disproportionately impacted them — to buy ads for a section meant to honor them is darkly ironic, racist, tone deaf to the economic plight the community has faced due to systemic racism, and harmful to a community that our newspaper has already caused so much harm to historically,” committee members wrote. “As a predominantly white company, mistakes will be made. But when that happens, it is critical to recognize, understand and apologize for those mistakes, and take concrete action to avoid making them in the future.”

The Diversity Committee also recommended management consider the following to begin mending community relations:

• Provide free advertising for Black-owned businesses for the remainder of Black History Month.
• Provide a reparations-based, sliding-scale price model for communities of color seeking to advertise with the Times Union after the month of February.
• Donate 100 percent of profits made from the Black History Month special section to local organizations that support Black communities.
• Create a community liaison position, and fill the position with a person of color from the Capital Region, in order to have a point person who can interface with communities of color without causing further harm.
• As previously recommended by the Diversity Committee, consider candidates of color first when marketing and filling open positions.
• Hold a Company-wide meeting to transparently and honestly discuss the offensiveness of and harm done by this email with employees and managers.

The committee urged management to continue this work beyond the month of February, and noted further actions previously recommended by the Diversity Committee to improve diversity, equity and inclusion at the Times Union. Those recommendations included hiring guest columnists of color; diversifying the company through more intentional recruitment strategies; and partnering with business owners of color.

Reporters and labor organizers from the Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News and the Billings Gazette will share their stories on bringing coworkers together to form a union and rally support for worker rights this Thursday.

The Albany Newspaper Guild will host a special Executive Board meeting at 6 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 11, with labor leaders from three newspapers at various stages of organizing, giving all of us the opportunity to pick their brains on how to build momentum and land a new contract.

Come with your questions and your enthusiasm. This is an opportunity for members to learn more about the benefits of our union and how you can help support our efforts to protect you and your colleagues!

More details on our special guests as well as a Zoom invite will be sent out to members later this week.

Members are asking questions about taking vacation and the five bonus personal days for this year.

2020-21 Vacation

You have until April 15 to use any remaining vacation time from last year. Our vacation period runs from April 15 through April 14. If you don’t use it, you lose it.

Many members have not taken their vacation saying they had nowhere to go. PLEASE take your vacation if you have not done so. You have until April 14 to take it.

US Personal 2020

The Hearst Corp. proposed five additional personal days for anyone who met the criteria and was on the payroll as of Dec. 31, 2020. The Guild agreed to this. You will see at the bottom of the list of various times off on your time card US PERSONAL 2020. For full-time employees you will see 37.5 hours. Fill out the time card just as you would for vacation or regular personal or make-up time by putting in the hour amount.

This time will not be paid if you leave before taking it. You should take it first after exhausting any vacation time left over from last year. These five bonus days must be used by the end of the year

Regular Personal Time

We all received our regular allotment of two personal days as of Jan. 1. They must be used by the end of the year and will be paid if you leave the Times Union.

2021-22 Vacation Scheduling

It’s nearly time to think about scheduling vacation (Contract Section 16, pages 35 to 37) for the upcoming vacation period beginning April 15. Here are some key dates:

• Feb. 15 — Company must notify you of your available vacation time.
• Feb. 25 — You must notify the company of your vacation selection in writing.
• March 5 — The company will prepare and post the vacation schedule.

Any questions or issues please contact a Guild officer, steward or the office.

The Guild has agreed to a Times Union plan to pay some members of our bargaining unit a 1 percent bonus in the Jan. 29, 2021 paycheck.

The bonus payment is similar to one made in 2020. There will be a minimum payment of at least $350.

The qualifications set by the company to receive the bonus payrment are you must be hired before October 1, 2020, you must have worked at least 1,000 hours in 2020, you must still be working at the company and you must not be on any sort of commission/bonus plan.

President Mandy Fries responded to the company to say Guild would not bar our bargaining unit members from receiving the bonus payment.

“However, notwithstanding this agreement, the Albany Newspaper Guild is not waiving its representational rights nor its legal right to bargain over the terms and criteria of the Hearst Bonus Plan,” Mandy stated in closing.

The Guild’s Executive Board discussed this bonus at its monthly meeting. The Guild remains committed to securing our first pay raise since Aug. 1, 2007 and is working to obtain a raise for all unit members.

The stewards will be checking in with everyone in the weeks ahead. Please let us know your thoughts.

Yours in Solidarity.

It’s been a busy autumn as nearly all of us continue to work remotely. The Guild anticipates that remote work will continue to be the rule as the coronavirus pandemic continues to roll up higher numbers of people infected.

Remote Work

As was previously noted, the Guild’s Executive Board proposed a Remote Work Policy to the Times Union, aiming to negotiate a policy that would set guidelines for working outside the office and related equipment issues. This was an outgrowth of our push this past summer on cell phone and equipment reimbursement.

When President Mandy Fries first presented the concept to Times Union Publisher George Hearst and Human Resources Director Ruth Fantasia, they said we would hear from Hearst Corporate attorneys from corporate headquarters. We finally heard from attorney Vincent Floyd after submitting a proposal.

“Additionally, we have reviewed the Guild’s proposed Remote Work Agreement. The proposal is not acceptable to us. We do not have a counter-proposal at this time,”  Floyd wrote Mandy.

Obviously, we are all disappointed by this initial response. It’s not over.

COVID-19

We urge you to continue to be vigilant and not take chances. Members have informed us of people testing positive for COVID-19 that may have resulted in a very limited exposure to a few people who work in the circulation and editorial departments. None of our unit members have tested positive and anyone in contact have gone into quarantine.

If you have tested positive for COVID-19 or been exposed please contact a Guild board member, the Guild office or your shop steward in addition to company protocols. We can help you work with management to ensure proper protocols are followed and mandatory quarantines are covered by the employer.

Buyouts

The corporate policy of no layoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic remains in place. We’ve had two rounds of voluntary buyouts. These occurrences did not trigger the layoff language in our contract.

In the most recent round, eight people applied for the buyout. The Times Union accepted four out of the eight who applied. We’re losing two colleagues in editorial and one each in advertising and circulation. The company rejected three colleagues in circulation and one in editorial.

Editorial Ethics Policy

The Times Union implemented an editorial ethics policy without consulting the Guild. We issued a request to negotiate pointing out in part that the policy violated at least one long-standing section of our contract and that other aspects raised legal issues and was subject to bargaining. The company’s attorney rejected our request to bargain over the policy but said the company is “willing to discuss any concerns or questions that the Guild may have relating to the policy.” This matter is still pending.

Stewards

The Albany Newspaper Guild’s shop stewards have been reaching out to unit members to find out what’s on your minds and concerns you may have. If someone from the Guild has reached out to you by email, phone or some other method, give them a shout back! They are here to support you and improve the overall workplace, and they will be regularly reaching out.