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.

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.

The Albany Newspaper Guild and the Times Union reviewed language in tentative agreements on Holidays and Employee Section and the Funeral Leave Section on Tuesday.

The Guild and Company bargaining teams continued to hold extensive discussions on expenses. While the Company wants expenses to be filed within 90 days, the Guild is seeking language that the expenses are paid as soon as possible after being filed.

The Guild had proposed free digital subscriptions being provided to employers. Since the Guild proposed this in June, the Hearst Corp. has extended free access to employees to all newspapers.

Discussion continued about cell phones, reimbursements, equipment and increasing insurance reimbursement for district managers.

Both sides also discussed providing short term disability insurance to Guild members and the status of banked unused sick time.

Bargaining turned away from an easy exchange of positions when the Company presented a written proposal to take the advertising sales force out of the bargaining unit.

Guild President Ken Crowe made it clear that this would not happen. Under federal labor law, the composition of our bargaining unit is not subject to mandatory bargaining. The Guild will not bargain away unit members.

The Advertising Department has been part of the Albany Newspaper Guild since at least the early 1940s. Over the years it has produced some of best presidents — Chris Cunningham and Melissa Nelson. The Guild Executive Board and activists have reached out to all Advertising Department unit members to tell them that we will stand by them and will not abandon them. They recognize the protections of being covered by a union.

The Company was told explicitly that the National Labor Relations Act covers our position, which was reviewed by our lawyer. The Guild gave the Company a letter to substantiate our verbal remarks.

We will stand firm and fight any attempt to attack the composition of our local.

Remember a motto that we have stood by for years — UNITED WE’RE STRONG.