Melissa Nelson said she felt like she was in a Bill Murray movie.

Nine years after she left the Times Union, the former Guild local president was once again in a conference room, hearing George Hearst proclaim the Company’s need for “flexibility” as an explanation for why it needed to gut section 1(D) of the contract.

Melissa, now the Guild International’s director of contract bargaining, led our local in 1995 when the company tried to remove the same protections that keep your work from being outsourced to independent contractors and nonunion part-timers.

“We talked about this for two years,” Nelson reminded Hearst as she showed the contract from back then that she still had, with its “I Love 1(D) sticker” still firmly attached. In honor of Melissa’s return this week, the bargaining committee wore duplicates of the “I Love 1(D) stickers.”

What could eliminating Section 1(D) mean to you? Well, as part of that contract settlement, an exception was made to the language affecting drivers. At the time, the Times Union employed 49 drivers. Today, there are five.

So imagine what could happen: Classified ad calls, taken by an independent contractor. Circulation calls, ditto. Billing and other business office functions? Outsourced. Features writers? Sorry, we only use freelancers. Covering local towns? You reporters are being fired and we’ll use Empire News Service for that.

Don’t think it could happen to your job? Talk to a driver — if you can find one.

With Melissa Nelson back at the bargaining table today, the Company got a good history lesson.

She reminded the Company where the letter came from that outlines the policy on allowing employees to recapture unused sick leave when seriously ill. (The Company has said it may seek to end the practice.)

Back in the late 1980s, Melissa was among a group of pregnant employees. Some were allowed to use back sick time, and one woman was declined. The Guild filed a grievance, which resulted in the letter still in the contract today spelling out the practice to allow unused back sick time to be used when people are on a long-term illness.

Ironically, the Company’s threat to end the practice comes when several Guild members are pregnant (and one just had twins), as the Company has noted on its internal Web site. Congratulations on the baby, but you can’t use back sick time: That’s a helluva of a family-unfriendly message to send.

Melissa also reminded the Company why we have language that requires layoffs to be in reverse order of seniority — another bit of language the Times Union bosses want to eliminate. Under former Publisher Tim White, she noted, the Company first put out a seniority list and then a layoff list that skipped over some newly hired employees.

Current Local President Tim O’Brien recalled that the Company refused to tell people where they stood on its layoff list and insisted the union do it. O’Brien recalled how horrified one fairly recent hire was to be told he was skipped. “How do I go back and face my friends?” he asked.

As a result of that horrible experience, both sides decided that it was in everyone’s best interest to make sure that never happened again. It’s a lesson that should not be lost in time.

The parties also began a discussion on exempt titles that will resume when negotiations start at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Executive Conference Room. Members may attend on their own time.

The newspaper launched a very nice revamp of its internal newsletter, renamed the Inside Scoop. We especially loved the photo of our four expectant mothers in editorial.
There was an item we weren’t so crazy about:

“A compensation review committee will evaluate all of our options to lower payroll costs next year without significantly impacting service and quality. The group will consider all aspects of base compensation, wage escalators, merit increases and bonus plan designs. Plan to be implemented in fall 2008.”

The Company was swiftly informed that this message is false. Oh, a committee may be meeting all right. It might even be chatting about these issues. But these are all mandatory subjects of bargaining. The Company cannot implement anything unless it is negotiated with the Guild and — here’s the truly great part — ratified by the membership.

That’s right. You get to decide what changes can be made to base pay, wage escalators, merit raises and bonuses. It’s your right. And no (insert favorite cuss word here) “compensation review committee” is going to take that right away from you.

Melissa was so appalled to hear that the Company was again proposing to eliminate protections against outsourcing our work, she is making a beeline back to Albany to remind George Hearst what happened the last time that was tried. She might even wear one of the old “I Love 1(D)” stickers.

Our local’s immediate past president, Melissa is today the Executive Secretary of the Guild International’s Contracts Committee. With our usual International Representative Jim Schaufenbil away, Melissa will be joining our bargaining committee for some September sessions. You can see Melissa and the commitee in action from 2-5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4. Members are welcome to attend the sessions during their breaks.

As he likes to do every so often during bargaining, Associate Publisher George Hearst asked union leaders today when the parties could pick up the pace and bring negotiations to a speedier end.

Guild bargainers replied that the Company should look no further than its own proposal to see why negotiations might take a while.

“So far, your list includes a series of givebacks, many of them sweeping and many of them an extremely difficult sell to our members,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said on behalf of the bargaining team. “We’ll need you to be much more specific about what it is you’re really seeking.”

O’Brien noted the Company had asked the union to separate the proposed newsroom reorganization from the rest of contract talks. The union did so and worked out a swift agreement with the Company.

“We think if the Company wants to move more aggressively toward a contract, it needs to withdraw some of its most onerous proposals such as the elimination of 1(D), the proposal on ending seniority protection during layoffs, the elimination of the no-pay-cuts clause and changing days off without consent,” he added.

Section 1(D), which the Company wants to eliminate, says the Company cannot displace or replace staff positions and give that work to an independent contractor or nonunion part-timer. It protects us from our work being outsourced.

In 1994, the union made an exception to the language affecting drivers. At the time, there were 49. Today, there are five. (And, O’Brien noted, the Company assured the Guild at the time of the agreement that it had no intention to gut the drivers’ workforce.)

That’s when Guild bargainer Stacy Wood of advertising asked Hearst: “Have you seen ‘Frankenstein?’ ” If the union presented those proposals to the workforce, she said, members would be inclined to grab pitchforks and torches and chase the bargaining committee members into the hills.