Guild President Tim O’Brien and other members of the executive board gathered with a handful of members for a brief informational meeting on the company’s proposed editorial buyout initiative Monday.

Tim outlined the details of the company’s one-paragraph proposal, which include:

• three weeks pay per year of service with a minimum of 15 weeks and a maximum of 52 weeks’ pay.
• an equal number of weeks of health insurance coverage.

According to Tim, the company also plans to offer buyouts to exempt employees, but it is not clear whether the exempt offers will be limited to the editorial department, as the Guild buyouts would be, or will be company-wide.

First Vice President Lindsay LaFountain suggested that employees in other departments could be interested in buyouts and recommended raising that possibility with the company.

Those gathered at the cafeteria table quickly came up with a number of questions about the proposal and its implications for health insurance deductibles, early retirement penalties, and whether the buyout would, in fact, provide an incentive for the most senior employees.

Other details that remain unclear are whether specific job titles are being targeted and how many positions the company is seeking to trim. It also is unknown whether the offers would reflect the differential payments typically paid to employees who work nights and weekends.

A committee is being formed to explore these and other questions and to craft a counter proposal to present to the company. Members at this point are:
President Tim O’Brien, Chief Steward Brian Nearing, Artist and Executive Board Member Jeff Boyer and Page Designer Gillian Scott.

At least one more member may be added to the committee, which is expected to begin working immediately.

Tim stressed that the Guild leaders want to act quickly to clarify questions and reach agreement with the company on a proposal that can be presented to members for a vote.

Under our contract, a buyout offer must be approved by the membership.

We are starting to meet with the company over next year’s health insurance plan, and we need your input.

Please click here to take our HEALTH-INSURANCE SURVEY.

The Times Union is asking to discuss a buyout to be targeted at editorial employees.

Guild President Tim O’Brien was contacted by Publisher George Hearst at 5 p.m. Friday. His proposed offer included three weeks of pay per year of service, with a minimum of 15 weeks and a maximum of one year. Health insurance would be provided for the same time period.

O’Brien was asked to come upstairs to review and sign the agreement. He said he could not act that fast and needed time to review the proposal. The publisher then came down to the newsroom and gave O’Brien a copy of the proposal. The Guild president spent time Saturday reviewing past buyouts, the contract and the imposed conditions. Any buyout offer is subject to a ratification vote of the membership as outlined in Section 6.G. of the contract. (That language, like most of the contract, remains in effect.)

We will be appointing a committee to negotiate with the company. We will provide more details as soon as we can.

The dues refund checks were mailed out on Saturday, Sept. 17. Most if not all people who are eligible for a refund should have received their checks by now. If you haven’t — or if you have any questions about your refund — you can contact the Guild office or a Guild officer.

Also, invoices were sent out for people who are not eligible for a rebate. If you have any questions about your invoice or haven’t received it, you can also contact the Guild office or a Guild officer.

Since the dues case was settled, more than a dozen people hired during the past two years have signed their forms to pay dues and are in good standing.

The union is glad to see the overwhelmingly positive response people have had to the settlement reached by the Times Union and the Guild. The union is now focused on reaching a settlement on all of the other outstanding issues, including the contract and the NLRB case over the 11 illegally fired workers.

At the same time, First Vice President Lindsay LaFountain is doing a tremendous job leading the Guild’s Commission Committee, which is trying to get changes made in the drastically cut commissions advertising employees are receiving.

The dues form signed by Guild-represented employees specifies a once-a-year window when people can revoke their dues checkoff. This clause’s language has been the same for more than 60 years.Out of the 200 we represent, we’ve had three inquire about revoking their dues.

As our contract and the language of the checkoff form state, there is a “window of opportunity” and specific procedures to follow. The Guild’s Executive Board consulted with our attorney, Barbara Camens, and were informed our officers and Executive Board have no authority to break that signed agreement or to change the guidelines in any way.

The Guild board also strongly believes that everyone who benefits from the union should pay the dues. It is simply unfair for some people to cash the bonus check, expect a pension and accept other benefits, all for free, while others pay for the same benefits.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact any Executive Board member.

The Executive Board
Tim O’Brien
Lindsay LaFountain
Mark Hempstead
Brian Nearing
Tim Neff
Jeff Boyer
Dan Roesser