The Company said Wednesday it would not rule out outsourcing the reporting and editing of local news or outside advertising positions. In fact, no position would be safe from outsourcing.

The Times Union also would not provide any criteria for how layoffs would be determined, and its bargainers said the most senior employee could be laid off and a replacement hired two days later under its proposal.

It was a disturbing night at the bargaining table. Guild negotiators thought they had found a productive path for movement when the Company said at the last session that it would be unlikely to outsource every job in the newsroom.

The Guild then asked a simple question: OK, what positions in editorial would you not look to outsource? The Company could not answer. The union then extended that question to every department: What does the Company see as the core jobs it would not look to hand off to a contractor?

“We are not able to rule any position in or out,” said Mark Batten, one of the company’s two out of town corporate attorneys handling negotiations. The other, Peter Rahbar, was not present nor was Publisher George Hearst.

Guild President Tim O’Brien asked if that meant the reporting and editing of local news could be outsourced.

“I think that’s a possibility,” Battan said.

“Would the Company outsource outside advertising positions?” the union asked.

“It’s something that might be looked at,” Battan replied. “It’s certainly within the scope of our proposal.”

The Company has declined four advertising employees’ requests for a buyout. While the Company did so because it would otherwise have to replace those positions now, Battan said, the Company could decide later to outsource those jobs if the Times Union gets the language it is seeking.

Battan was no more forthcoming when asked detailed questions about the Company’s proposal on layoffs. The Times Union wants to be able to lay off anyone it chooses — and Battan said the Company will provide employees with no information on what criteria would be considered.

“It’s going to roll up from individual managers,” he said, adding the rules could vary from employee to employee.

Asked how an employee would know what to do to avoid being selected for layoff, Battan replied: “There is no definitive advice to give to employees.”

The Guild was joined at the table by International Representative Tim Schick, a past president of our local. He asked if under the company’s language it could lay off the most senior employee and then decide two days later to hire someone new for the same job.

“It could happen under the language we propose,”  Battan said.

The parties are next scheduled to meet from 5:30-8:30 p.m. May 13. Battan asked if the Guild would be able to meet sooner. O’Brien replied the union must work within the schedules of the bargaining team and the International representatives, who are currently  juggling multiple crises at various newspapers, but he said he would check on everyone’s availability.

At the session’s end, O’Brien expressed hope Battan would take the questions the union posed back to his bargaining colleague and Hearst. Getting answers on what core jobs would not be outsourced  would be helpful, he said.

Battan complained the Guild had not presented a new proposal, but O’Brien replied the union had moved as much as the Company. The union leader added, however, that unlike the Company, the Guild has not said it will not move and continues to explore to try to find avenues to an agreement.

The Times Union has declined four employees’ requests for buyouts, the Guild learned Wednesday.

The Company has accepted 16 buyout requests to date and four to five more people may still be granted a buyout. Eleven people have signed the paperwork. Many of the workers will spend their last day at the Times Union Thursday. (Today as most of you are probably reading this.)

All four people whose requests were declined  work in the advertising department.

“If we gave these people a buyout, we’d have to replace them and that defeats the purpose of a buyout,” said Human Resources Director Carole Hess.

But one of the company’s out of town attorneys said that if the Company gained the contract language it wants on outsourcing, those positions could be eliminated at a later date.

Four of the five drivers are also contemplating a buyout as the Company has informed them that their positions are being shifted to independent contractors. Under  the current language on outsourcing, the drivers are the sole employees whose work can be contracted out. (The language also says they cannot be laid off, but the Company told them it would move them to other positions.)

Over the years, that exception to the outsourcing language has meant a decline in unionized drivers from 49 to five and now to zero, an indication of what happens when a company gets the unrestricted ability to outsource.

Capital Region residents are getting the message about the Times Union’s awful treatment of its employees in a whole new way.

An electronic billboard on I-90 contains three rotating messages from the Guild about our contract talks. The Guild also will be able to update and change the message as circumstances change. (This means if we settle the contract, we could put up a message asking people to subscribe again too.)

Two of the messages focus on the Company’s efforts to outsource any and all of our jobs. One says “Fair Contract Now” and encourages people to call Publisher George Hearst at 454-5555.

The billboard is part of the Guild’s ongoing efforts to inform and mobilize the community.

If you’re not driving that way today, you can view the billboard messages here and here

Rather than negotiate a fair contract with its employees, the Times Union is trying to position itself to claim the parties are at an impasse so  it can impose the elimination of seniority rules for layoffs and start outsourcing jobs.

In George Hearst’s latest e-mail to employees, note he said the Company is dedicated to reaching “an expedient resolution.” Not a good resolution or a fair resolution, but an expedient one.

In the letter to Guild President Tim O’Brien, you’ll notice a much more negative tone and a claim the parties appear to be at impasse.

The parties are not at or near an impasse. There are plenty of issues left on the table for us to discuss, from an increase in the pension fund contribution to commissions to upgrades. Hearst himself lists a half dozen issues.

In addition, numerous questions have arisen over the Company’s proposals on the two issues it has described as core ones for these negotiations. Their proposals have been altered as of the last round of sessions, and we need to carefully review the latest version of their proposals and how they would affect our members.

“We have never said we will not reach an agreement on any of the issues on the table,” O’Brien said. “But we have an obligation to represent our members to the fullest and to make sure we understand what every word in a proposal means. Once you reach an agreement, you are bound by those words and cannot later claim, ‘Well, we really didn’t know what that meant.’ When the language is about outsourcing and seniority for layoffs, it is very important that every word in an agreement be carefully considered.”

If the Company attempts to claim we are at impasse, we will immediately file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board because it is demonstrably untrue. If the Company then says it will lay off people outside of seniority, we will immediately file a second board charge and seek an injunction.

Yes, we have been bargaining for nine months. The prior contract took two years to negotiate. Other unions in the plant have recently taken 15 months to negotiate. The amount of time spent bargaining is not an indication of impasse. And in fact, the Company did not really start bargaining in earnest until it issued the notice it would cancel the contract, a little more than a month ago.

And note what else George says in his memo: He wants to meet daily, but he has no intention of moving. In a sentence, that sums up the Company’s whole cynical game: Blast the union for not meeting daily, but refuse to bargain if we do.

You’ll hear George complain a lot about not meeting as often as he would like. What George doesn’t acknowledge is he was told that if he canceled the contract, it would temporarly cut our revenues and we would have to cut back on time spent on union leave. Knowing this, he canceled the contract anyway.

And, frankly, those of us on the Bargaining Committee want to spend some of our time doing our day jobs. The Company already targeted one of our committee members and tried to argue she had to hit the same advertising sales goals even if she was spending “every day” in bargaining as George wants. So that’s the Company’s position: Let’s meet every day, and let’s then say you’re a slouch at work.

Sure, the Company can meet every day. It has two out-of-town corporate lawyers on the payroll it can summon at short notice. The Guild’s expert advice comes from International representatives who work for many locals at a time, and we can’t simply order them to come to Albany the next day. At this stage, we will not bargain without an expert with us for every session, just as George would not bargain without his lawyer present.

“We know the Company wants to implement layoffs soon. It can do so under the current language,” O’Brien said. “Just because the Company wishes it had different language now does not mean it can force an impasse to get what it wants. The Times Union needs to continue to bargain in good faith until all the issues at the table are resolved and final language is agreed upon. While we certainly would like an agreement sooner than later, our first task is to get a fair agreement for our members that is carefully and wisely considered, not just expedient.”

At the just-concluded annual meeting of the Capital District Area Labor Federation, delegates passed a resolution supporting the Guild. The meeting drew more than 140 delegates and guests, and the resolution passed unanimously.

“The Capital District Area Labor Federation supports the Guild in its fight to keep experienced, loyal employees at work and to keep jobs from being outsourced; condemns the Times Union’s decision to cancel the union’s contract; and urges the newspaper’s management to abandon the destructive path it has taken,” the resolution reads.

It continues: “This body will stand in solidarity with the union and will support any and all boycotts, picketing or other efforts necessary to achieve a fair outcome.”

The Times Union’s effort to gut worker protections drew loud boos from the audience.  The Capital Region has the highest union density in New York State, meaning that the newspaper’s circulation and its advertisers’ profitability is based on the support of union households.