In an effort to get employees to swallow all of its demands, the Company today filed notice it would cancel our contract on April 9.

“The message to members is that if you don’t allow the Company to gut your contract, it will launch an unprecedented assault on your union,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said.

Canceling the contract would mean the union would no longer be able to take grievances to an independent arbitrator. The Company also claims it will be able to cease deducting dues from your paycheck. The union disagrees and will seek help from the Guild International.

“This in no way allows the Company to impose the contract language that it wants,” O’Brien said. “It cannot lay people off while ignoring the seniority language or outsource our work. This is meant to force the union to its knees because your bargaining team has stood up for you and continues to stand up for you.”

O’Brien told Publisher George Hearst it was the dumbest move the Company could make. The union has tremendous support from labor leaders in the Capital Region. “If the Company wants to target the union, the Guild will have no choice but to respond in kind, preparing to launch a circulation and advertising boycott should the Company follow through on its threat and cancel the contract.”

The move also came at the end of a day when the Guild leadership offered significant concessions: including a 5 percent across-the-board wage cut, the elimination of overtime until employees have worked 40 hours a week (not just 7.5 hours a day), the end of the bonus day for those who never take sick time.

Later in the day, the Guild offered an amendment to the layoff language, allowing the Company to lay off employees by job title rather than department: Layoffs would still have to be done by reverse order of seniority, a significant give on the union’s part.

The Company said it intends to lay off 20-25 percent of Guild members, but the numbers it provided — 65 to 70 workers — make up closer to 30 percent of the bargaining unit.

And what did the Company come to the table with Tuesday? A regression on its proposal on layoffs. It not only wants to be able to lay anyone off despite how long and loyal their service, the Company added to that today by removing any reference to a rehiring list.

“Every member of the Guild who values their contract and their union will be asked to step up and mobilize effective immediately,” O’Brien said.

The union’s Executive Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Albany Labor Temple to plan its strategy.

Bargaining resumes at 1 p.m. Wednesday. All members who can make the meeting should attend.

Remember when the Company used to talk about treating employees with fairness, kindness, dignity and respect?

It sure has been a long time.

Now comes word that Hearst in San Francisco is giving the Guild this choice: Accept our demands (which look familiar) and we’ll lay off 150. Resist and we’ll lay off 225.

Nice, huh?

And in Seattle, the Post-Intelligencer may become a Web-only operation with lots of blogs and links and little news.

We know times are tough, but we’re supposed to attract readers, not repel them.

In light of the questions raised at Thursday’s membership meeting, Guild President Tim O’Brien sent a letter to George Hearst this morning asking the Company to provide answers.

You can read the letter here.

More than 150 Guild members filled a meeting hall at the Albany Labor Temple tonight to discuss the Company’s announced layoffs.

Guild leaders tried their best to answer questions, although the Company has shared no details to date. Publisher George Hearst has said the Company will develop its plan over the next month, and it won’t be until the third quarter of the year that all layoffs are complete.

Members expressed frustration the Company won’t open its books, allowing a Guild International official to review them but keeping the findings confidential. Taking this step — which has happened at other privately held newspapers, including in the Hearst Corp. — would help ensure members that reductions are truly needed.

Employees also said it would be helpful to know how much the Company is seeking to save so the Guild’s bargaining team could be in a better position to offer alternatives. One young staffer pleaded for people to be willing to offer concessions in the hopes of saving jobs like his, and members assured him that they are willing to do so.

The Guild will take in all the input they received to formulate a response, but members agreed the Company could help immensely by removing some of the large number of givebacks they are seeking from the table. Other proposals still left include eliminating the no-pays cuts clause, giving the Company a blank check to outsource work, enabling bosses to change days off without consent, and eliminating the language that protects against an illegal speedup.

To a person, the attendees were supportive of the Guild’s bargaining committee and said the Company should not be under the delusion that the members have a different viewpoint than the bargaining team.

 “They’re not telling us what to think,” one editorial employee said. “We’re telling them what we think.”

The Newspaper Guild is planning a meeting for this Thursday to discuss the Company’s proposed layoffs.

The session will be held at the large auditorium in the first floor of the Albany Labor Temple, 890 Third St., Albany. Yes, we know the Desmond is more convenient, but the space at the Labor Temple is free to us and the Guild too needs to be cost conscious.

The exact start time will be determined Monday morning, but we expect it to be either 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m.

We do not yet have any details of the Company’s plans, but we can answer questions and get your input on what you want your union to do. We can also explain the process as outlined in the contract.

It’s important to note that there have not been layoffs previously at the Times Union, so this process is new to us as well. We still believe it is in everyone’s best interest for the Company to offer buyouts first.

Please take time to come to this very important meeting.