Guild leaders are being asked whether members should go to the health-care meetings the Company has scheduled.

The answer is: Yes. We believe our members should be well-informed about the Company’s proposed switch to an MVP plan. The union has made clear its position that the change cannot be made without a vote of the membership and that a switch in health care should be part of an overall contract settlement.

The Company appears to be preparing to switch everyone without consent, arguing that the contract says the Company must offer the current health plan or a “comparable”  one. Times Union officials are claiming the MVP plan is comparable; Guild leaders say it’s high deductible makes it a very different kind of plan, more akin to a catastrophic-care plan.

Guild leaders are also concerned that while the Company says it will cover all but $750 of the deductible in the first year, it opens the door to that amount being raised in future years.

The Guild’s Executive Board will meet at 7 p.m. this Thursday at the union’s office at the Albany Labor Temple, 890 Third St., Albany. (It’s behind the OTB Teletheater.) Board members will discuss contract negotiations and the health-care issue, and we will likely schedule a membership meeting for you to voice your thoughts. (The Executive Board meeting, as always, is also open to all members to attend.)

The board will also need to have a membership meeting to fill an opening on the Executive Board. Renee Bernard, who did a wonderful job as a board member for several years, had to step down due to a serious illness in her family. (We passed a resolution honoring Renee for her service.)

We are looking to fill the remaining year on Renee’s term as third second vice president. (Oops, John DeMania is third vice president. Sorry about that, John.) We’ll explain the process if you’re interested in that position in an upcoming flier once we set a membership meeting date.

Delegates to a regional meeting of the Newspaper Guild/CWA expressed support for our local during its contract negotiations with the Times Union. More than 20 members of the Southern and MidAtlantic District councils met at the Best Western Albany Airport Saturday, with the session continuing Sunday morning.

Delegates came from Memphis; Lexington, Kentucky; Baltimore-Washington; New York City; Philadelphia; the News Media Guild and Puerto Rico. International President Bernie Lunzer, International Secretary-Treasurer Carol Rothman and International Chair Connie Knox all attended.

They discussed the state of the industry and the treatment of advertising employees as well as sharing ideas on how to build stronger locals in difficult economic times.

Guild President Tim O’Brien spoke this morning at a monthly meeting of Capital Region labor leaders to explain how the Company is threatening to outsource jobs and eliminate seniority protections if layoffs were to occur, among other givebacks.

Labor leaders expressed shock that a newspaper based in the labor friendly Capital Region, where 30 percent of workers are organized, would propose such an assault on its workers. O’Brien explained that the parties are in off-the-record negotiations, trying to resolve the contract and get the most divisive issues off the table.

“When do you want us to cancel our subscriptions?” asked Doug “Bullhorn” Bullock, a longtime labor activist and county legislator known for coming to labor pickets with his bullhorn at the ready.

 

“Not yet,” O’Brien replied.

Another labor leader, Hank Landow, said the unions should plan to circle the Times Union building with a picket line.

Labor leaders were highly active in Channel 13’s negotiations last year, picketing the building and placing lawn signs around the Capital Region urging viewers to turn off the station before that contract was settled. Bill Lambdin, president of NABET/CWA, told the audience that he is in negotiations at Channel 6 and recently reached a contractual agreement at WMHT.

O’Brien explained that the Guild and the Times Union are still working under the current contract, which bars picketing and boycotts. If the Company made the serious mistake of canceling the contract, he said, such actions would then be appropriate and immediate.

“At a time when every subscription and every ad sale is precious, the Times Union should not want to go down that road,” the union president said. “It’s not in anyone’s interest.”

The Guild and the Company entered off-the-record discussions Monday in the hopes it might lead the parties closer to an agreement. Unfortunately, that means the Guild cannot discuss the contents of the discussions with the membership unless an agreement is reached and submitted to you for your approval.

At the same time, it means the Guild is not bound to anything it proposes during these talks unless and until an agreement is reached. If the parties cannot reach a resolution, we would return to exactly where we were in our public discussions.

The Guild has also agreed to allow the Company to present information on its proposed switch of our health care to an MVP plan. That does not mean the union has agreed to or endorsed it, and the Guild’s membership must vote on any proposed switch.

If the Company attempts to impose the changes without agreement, the Guild would have no choice but to take appropriate legal action in response. We think it is in both parties’ interest to seek to reach a full contractual agreement rather than carve out individual issues. That is why we have agreed to off-the-record discussions.

The talks resume Monday, November 17.

The Guild made a comprehensive proposal to settle the entire contract Tuesday, starting with annual raises of 5 percent for four years.

Under the Guild’s plan, the pension would get a much-needed boost, with an increase in the contribution from 85 cents an hour to $1.05. The Company’s pension contribution has not increased since 1986. With the stock market struggling and a reduction in the Guild workforce, a raise is needed.

The Guild proposal would add a fifth year of vacation at 15 years of employment and a sixth week at 25 years.

The package would include agreeing to the proposed switch to an MVP plan. Since the move would save the Company money, the Guild said it made no sense to increase the employee contribution from the current 16 percent. The Guild also proposed that the Company pay the full deductible in the first year, giving employees time to set aside the $750 for future years. The Guild also called for the Company to set up a debit-card system, enabling you to use the card to pay your doctor.

For employees in advertising, the Guild proposed that there be one pay classification for sales people at Class D and that commissions be subject to the review and approval of the Guild’s Commission Committee. We’ve received numerous complaints about the frequent changing of goals, unrealistic sales expectations and constant addition of new products to sell.

The proposal came after the Guild had sent out a survey on Friday to its advertising sales workers, with a suggestion that a meeting be held to discuss these issues further.

“Making this proposal does not negate our ability to still have this discussion,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “We wanted to make a comprehensive proposal swiftly because we think any change to our health insurance should be part of a contract settlement. That meant giving the Company a full proposal today, but we certainly expect there to be more discussion about whether the current five different pay classifications for advertising sales employees is appropriate and what changes should be part of a final contract.”

The Guild also proposed increases in various differentials, many of which have not been raised in decades, and for a consistent policy for reimbursing employees for using their cell phones. There were also eight upgrades proposed.

You can see the complete proposal here.

The Company is upset at the Guild’s insistence that any agreement on health insurance be part of a total package.

“We’ve sat at the table since June staring at the same pile of givebacks, and the Company has not moved off a single one of them,” O’Brien said. “Give them the health insurance, and they would have no motive to move off a thing until next year’s health insurance costs were up for discussion. It is well past time that the Company put the same energy and effort into its proposals that the Guild has put into theirs. We are committed to reaching a total package that rewards our members for their hard work and dedication and for the ever-increasing workload they are expected to bear. The Company would be well-served to remove its proposed givebacks from the table and to start a discussion on what a reasonable contract offer would be. We believe our proposal today is an important step toward that goal.”