Look around you.

If the Company got its way and could outsource any job, what could go?

Circulation calls. Classified ad sales. Page design. Editing. Advertising and editorial art. Payroll and accounting.

The oh-so-slow new computer system in editorial is based in Houston. Someone there, who has never been to Albany, could edit copy and lay it out on a page as easily (but not as accurately) as we do. E-mails to the calendar desk could be read there, the calendars compiled, edited and sent to a page designer and laid out without anyone in Albany ever looking at it. (Sure, there might be more mistakes, but there are already more getting in because fewer people are proofreading the paper under the new system.)

Sound impossible? It’s not. It’s already happening in our industry. One person even started a “news” Web site in Pasadena, California that hired “reporters” in India to watch the television feed of City Council meetings and write stories about them. (They missed it when a group of black lawmakers walked out in protest because it was off camera.)

It’s not hard to see what gets lost. Quality. Accuracy. (How do you ask how a speaker spells his or her name when you’re not even in the same part of the country or world?)

But many newspapers are going this route as if it’s their salvation. It’s not. It’s their doom. If the Times Union leadership thinks this is the path to follow, it will be the beginning of the end. Whatever you’ll call it in the future, it’s not journalism. It’s not customer service. It’s not news.

But look around you. The question is not what would go. It’s what would stay.

Guild members approved a switch to the MVP health-care plan Friday by a vote of 81-31.

The change takes effect January 1. Members will be able to sign up for a health-savings account with Berkshire Bank that will enable them to set aside money before taxes to pay medical costs. These accounts will enable employees to carry moneyover into the next year. If workers leave or retire, they can either cash out the money (paying a tax penalty) or switch to a tax-exempt IRA.

The 112 members voting is a little less than half the membership, though many people who take the health-insurance buyout said they did not want to decide what insurance other employees receive. Others said they were too torn to vote: They didn’t much like the upfront deductible, but they also thought the union had bigger fights on its hands.

Several of the no votes were quite emphatic. One person wrote “Hell No!”  on their ballot, while another wrote “Tell the Company (Times Union) to stop messing with the Guild employees!!!!”

“Our members had very serious questions about this switch and about having to pay so much money upfront for medical expenses,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “In the end, they decided that the switch was worth doing so long as the employee’s share of the deductible remains where it is as long as we remain in this plan. We do appreciate the Company’s efforts to find ways to reduce the costs, but the real way to solve this crisis is to find a national solution.”

Members will vote this Friday on the proposed switch to the MVP health-care plan, and the union is recommending a yes vote to approve the change.

The decision came after negotiations Friday. Executive Board members met briefly at 5 p.m. and voted 5-2 to send the proposal to a membership vote. Voting will be between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. Friday. The results will be counted at the end of voting.

Both sides retained their positions: The union maintains that the MVP plan is not comparable to our existing one and therefore a membership ratification vote is required. The Company maintains that the plans are comparable and it can make the change without membership approval. However, the Company has agreed to allow us to use the cafeteria for the vote Friday.

If the membership were to vote the proposal down, the Company claims it can impose the agreement anyway. The Guild says it would take a grievance to arbitration if the Company were to attempt any such step, and an independent arbitrator would rule as to whether the two plans are comparible.

The Company agreed that it would cover all but $750 of the deductible in 2009 and if the parties retain the same plan in 2010. The Guild did not waive its right to bargain any future changes in the employee’s share of the deductible, and we continue to maintain the contractual language that the Company can only switch to a different plan if it is comparable.

Employees will be able to set up health savings plans through Berkshire Bank. In 2009, the Company will provide upfront payment up to $750 in the case of hardship if an employee requests it. The employee will then have to sign a written authorization to withhold salary to repay the Company. Employees will not be asked to provide proof of financial hardship.

“This plan will save money for most if not all employees as long as the employee share of the deductible remains where it is,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “While we do have concerns about what could happen in the future, we retain our right to bargain those changes. We also know that this switch will be a considerable cost savings to the Company. While we agreed to separate out our health insurance from other contractual issues, we believe the Company should reflect the savings we are now enabling them to enjoy elsewhere in their contractual proposal.”

During negotiations Monday, the Guild and the Times Union management discussed the proposed switch to the MVP plan.

The union had proposed last week that employees’ contribution to the deductible be capped at $750. George Hearst had said last week that if the Company tried to raise the deductible substantially, it would render the plan not “comparable” to the current plan.

(Under our contract, the Company can offer the current Blue Shield plan or a comparable one. The Guild continues to maintain that MVP’s high-deductible plan is not comparable to the more traditional insurance we now enjoy, so the Company cannot switch out of it without members’ consent.)

On Monday, Hearst said the Times Union would not raise the employees’ share of the deductible in 2009 and 2010. He argued that no one could predict what would happen with health insurance in subsequent years.

The Guild’s bargainers have said that the Company’s paying most of the deductible is what makes this plan a cost savings for most employees. Without a guarantee that the deductible share won’t increase, the plan could become expensive in future years.

“It is our intention to hold the $750 through 2010. You have our word that would be the case,” Hearst said.

The Company did agree it would pay for one annual eye exam for every employee and each of their dependents, even if MVP did not offer that coverage as a rider to the policy.

Hearst also balked at the Guild’s proposal to limit the employee’s percentage share to the current 16 percent next year. He said the percentage discussion should be part of ongoing contract negotiations.

He also clarified another issue members have asked about: what happens if an employee is hit with a substantial medical bill early in the year, before being able to set money aside in a health savings account. The Company had said it would provide the money upfront if employees experienced a “hardship.”

Guild leaders questioned employees having to provide evidence of financial trouble in order to get an advance payment on medical bills. Hearst said that would not be necessary, and the Company would assist employees who asked. The employees, in turn, would have to sign a repayment agreement.

The parties also continued off-the-record discussions on the entire contract. Negotiations resume at 10 a.m. Tuesday. A bargaining session is also set for this Thursday.

Guild members elected Dan Roesser of Marketing to a seat on the Executive Board at Monday’s membership meeting.

Dan replaces Renee Bernard, who resigned due to health concerns in her family. The Guild expressed graditude to Renee for her service. We know she will remain a committed member and will continue to be a positive voice for the union in the workplace.

Dan, 29, joined the Times Union in 2006 as an advertising artist. He now works as a marketing media specialist. He brings a welcome injection of youth onto the Executive Board at a time when the Guild’s International has made attracting the “Next Generation” of union leaders a top priority.

Dan will finish the one year remaining in Renee Bernard’s term. All the Executive Board positions, which carry two-year terms, will be up for re-election in fall 2009.