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  • Company seeking buyouts to reduce staff

    October 18, 2018 /

    The company informed the Guild on Tuesday that it seeks an unspecified reduction in staffing before the end of 2018. Under the terms of the current contract, that step requires the company first make a buyout offer to workers who are willing to leave prior to pursuing potential layoffs.

    The offer is similar to that made in 2016 when the company last sought staffing cuts. It calls for two weeks pay per year of service, starting at a minimum of 10 weeks pay to a maximum of 52 weeks pay.

    For the 2016 buyout, the minimum buyout was 15 weeks of pay to a maximum of 52 weeks. The Guild is seeking to have this level restored

    Years of service would be based on an employee’s tenure as of Nov. 1, 2018. Fractions of years would not be counted, so for example, if tenure clocked in a 9 years and ten months, the buyout would be based on 9 years.

    Workers also would receive health insurance coverage for that same period of time. Worker electing not to take continued health insurance would collect 50 percent of the net premium for that period.

    To receive the buyout, workers would have to sign a perpetual release that indicates the worker will make no future claims against the company.

    Pension benefits and accrued benefits, such as vacation time, makeup days and personal days are guaranteed by our contract, and would be paid at the time of the buyout. Commissions would be included in the buyout calculation for advertising sales staff.

    The company has sole discretion to decide each buyout request on a case-by-case basis. Factors would include whether a particular worker would need to be replaced, and whether the company can reduce payroll.

    The company did not indicate a potential target for the number of positions that it seeks. Management indicated that exempt employees are also being targeted for buyouts.

    Under our contract, members must vote on whether the package should be offered for consideration. If the buyout offer is rejected, then the company can initiate layoffs. Under the contract, layoffs would be based on reverse seniority order (first in-last out). The company would have to give 45 days advance notice to anyone subject to layoff, or provide 45 days pay.

    Laid-off workers are entitled to additional dismissal pay based on years of service, up to a maximum of 62 weeks for those with 30 ½ years of service. Health insurance coverage is not provided as part of dismissal pay.

    The company has set a deadline of 5 p.m. Oct. 31 for applications. Workers who are selected for the buyout package will have 45 days in which to sign the agreement or not. Workers who sign the agreement then will have seven days to reconsider revoking it.

    The Guild Executive Board will schedule a member vote shortly on whether the buyout offer should be made available. If the issue passes, workers can decide individually whether to apply. All pension rights in our contract remain in effect and you should also be able to access monthly payment estimates at your account on myhearstretirement.com.

    Your Guild officers can take any questions that you have. Contact Brian Nearing (x5094), Amanda Fries (x5353), Marianne Mahr (x5589), Jennifer Rodd (x5597), Rob Gavin (x5064), Mark Hempstead (x5675), and Jeff Boyer (x5429)

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  • Agreement reached on company cell phone stipend policy

    April 20, 2018 /
    In response to a new company mobile phone stipend policy, members of the Newspaper  Guild met this week with company representatives to discuss concerns over what appeared to be company access to the personal phones of our members, up to and including the potential review and deletion of any and all data if the company felt any company email on the phone had been compromised.
    Accordingly, the policy no longer contains any requirement that our members install any company app that can provide access to the phone and its contents.
    Our members will be required to report to the company upon learning their phone is lost or stolen, which then affords the company the ability to act to protect that email account, most likely by changing the internal email password to prevent unauthorized access.
    Due to the imminent upcoming payroll accounting software upgrade, the stipend agreement forms that some of you may have already signed that contain this now-inoperative language will be allowed to stand, although a revised agreement form reflecting this change will become available shortly. Anyone who has already signed a form can later sign and submit an updated form to Human Resources.
    The requirement that workers must respond to calls from supervisors during working hours is tempered by HR acknowledgement of special circumstances (such as courthouse rules, or lack of service). However, a pattern of non-response could be raised by the company as a disciplinary item, and the Guild would be able to investigate the specifics of any such claims.
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  • 2018 Health Insurance Update

    November 29, 2017 /

    The news for the 2018 health insurance coverage is a mix of good and bad. First, the good: The company’s health insurance consultant, the local firm of Brown and Brown, was able to negotiate a 4.9 percent premium increase from our current provider, MVP. There will be no need to change health care providers.

    Given the current uncertainty in the health care market, due to the current political outlook on potential changes in the federal Affordable Care Act, a premium increase in the low single digits was very favorable.

    Now, for the bad news. As you know, the Guild has long maintained a so-called “composite” health care rate, in which separate rates for single (one person), double (two people) and family (parents with children) coverage are blended in a single rate that applies to all members. Guild policy has been to use a blended rate so that all members are treated equally, with risks and benefits shared, regardless of family status.

    Unfortunately, an increasing proportion of highest-rate family members covered in the Guild plan, which is being driven by a steep decline in the number of single members, has resulted in a larger percentage increase in this blended rate.

    Accordingly, the total MVP monthly blended rate will increase from $958.97 to $1,054.98, an increase of 10 percent.

    There is also going to be a premium increase in the dental insurance component, driven by claims filed for dental coverage in 2017. However, that increase is being mitigated by a change in the dental insurance carrier, from Cigna to Guardian.

    The current Cigna rate is $50.77 a month, while the new Guardian rate will be $63.53 a month. Remaining with Cigna would have resulted in a monthly rate of $82.60.

    Use this search tool to find dentists who accept Guardian coverage in the Capital Region: https://www.guardiananytime.com/fpapp/FPWeb/dentalSearch.processNews about your

    Accordingly, the new MVP rate, combined with the Guardian rate, will result in a total monthly premium increase from $1,185.82 in 2017 to $1,294.59 in 2018.

    As has been the case since 2008, the Guild contract requires our members to cover 23 percent of this cost. So, the current weekly deduction will be increasing from $62.95 to $68.71, an increase of slightly more than 9 percent. Over the course of the year, that will be an extra $300 per employee.

    Current individual deductible levels of $2,000, with the employee being responsible for the first $750, remain unchanged. Prescription out-of-pocket will also remain unchanged from current levels of $10/$30/$50.

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