The Guild asked the company this week to delay new commission plans on ad sales staff until the Commission Committee can review them and make recommendations as is required.

In 1993, the union and company reached an agreement to create the Commission Committee. Commissions are mandatory subjects of contract bargaining, but both parties recognized it would be burdensome to negotiate every commission plan during contract talks.

The Commission Committee was then created to give members input into the plans. Over the years, the company would come forward with a plan, members would review it and make recommendations, and some of those changes would be accepted and others would not.

The Guild is in the midst of revamping the committee. Longtime chairperson Christine Wright has decided to take a break from the role in which she served so well for many years. Lindsay LaFountain has stepped up to take the role as the committee’s leader. Rick Barber has also volunteered to serve on the committee, and we are seeking others to help as well.

If you have an interest in serving on the committee, or would simply like more information, contact Lindsay, call the Guild office at 482-9218 or e-mail the union at office@albanyguild.org.

The committee intends to do what our agreement requires. (You can find the agreement, which remains in effect, on Page 75 of the last contract.) It states that the committee will review any changes to commission plans and make recommendations. Commission plans should not be imposed before the committee has a chance to review them, consult with colleagues and make those recommendations.

The Newspaper Guild will resume its off-the-record talks with the Times Union on Tuesday, January 11.

The union pressed the company to schedule a negotiating date to respond to the off-the-record proposal the union made on November 23. When the company said it was unable to make the December date the union requested, the Guild suggested the January 11 date and the company agreed.

“We are committed to keep trying to resolve all the outstanding issues,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “We wish we could discuss our proposals and the company’s responses publicly, but we are advised by counsel that it is best not to do so given our pending legal cases.”

The union will be represented by O’Brien, First Vice President Lindsay LaFountain and Chief Steward Brian Nearing. International Representative Jim Schaufenbil will again join us.

Guild members approved a switch to a Blue Cross health insurance plan with a low premium increase but a potential high cost to the sickest employees.

The new insurance was approved by a vote of 39-7.

Under the new plan, which takes effect January 1, employees will see their weekly payroll deduction increase from $33.81 a week to $35.70, up $1.89. Employees also will see their share of premium costs stay at 21 percent for 2011 rather than rising to 23 percent as the company had originally imposed.

The deductible will also stay at $750 rather than increasing to $1,000 as the company had originally sought.

If we had stayed with MVP, the deductible would have risen to $1,000 and the weekly contribution to $51.37.

Under the new plan, however, members who use health care the most could pay a good deal more.

All employees will pay up to $750 for the deductible. Once employees reach that level, the company will reimburse them for medical expenses up until $2,000 for singles and $4,000 for family coverage.

When those plateaus are reached, employees will then be responsible for paying 10 percent of any medical costs. (Physicals and well child care do not require employees to pay a share.)

The maximum any employee will pay will be $2,000 for an individual plan or $4,000 for a family plan. (The total maximum exposure, counting the deductible, will be $2,750 for an individual or $4,750.)

“Our members recognized that this plan shifts costs, and we will monitor the impact it has on our co-workers over the next year,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “But we also realized that we would burden all employees with a large increase if we stayed with MVP, and we would have forced the company into paying hundreds of thousands of dollars more for health care, which we would have expected the TU to attempt to recoup somewhere else. In the end, members weighed the issues and made the decision.”

While turnout was low, some employees told Guild leaders they chose not to vote because they are covered under a spouse’s plan and did not feel they should decide on other people’s coverage.

The Guild and company had examined a CWA fund called the United Furniture Workers Fund as an alternate option, but too many potential problems arose to make that a viable option to implement quickly.

Guild members will vote Tuesday on a proposed switch to a new Blue Cross health care plan.

The plan has benefits and downsides, but overall the union’s leadership felt it was the best option we could get for our members.

The Guild convinced the company to forestall the increase in our premium share from 21 to 23 percent for a year. The union also got the company to keep the employee’s share of the deductible at $750.

The company would pay the rest of the deductible, up to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families. Once employees reached that level, they would be responsible for 10 percent of all medical costs except for physicals and well-child care. That share would be capped at $2,000 under an individual plan and $4,000 for a family plan.

Based on last year’s data, most employees would never have to pay that share. But last year’s data shows that about 20 percent of employees, the sickest, would pay more than under the MVP plan.

In return, the weekly share of the premium would rise from $33.81 under the current MVP plan to $35.70. If we stuck with the MVP plan, the weekly payment would leap to $51.37 and the deductible would rise to $1,000.

“The board was very concerned about the potential impact on employees who are suffering from a serious illness,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “We will do everything in our power to assist people in need. Health care decisions are difficult these days, but keeping the premium down made it hard to resist.”

Publisher George Hearst said an employee who suffers financial hardship can arrange for an interest-free loan with the company. This helped make our decision.

The vote will be held from noon to 2 p.m. and 4:30-5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Executive Conference Room. Members must be in good standing to vote, and the union will be able to collect dues if you want to do so.

The Guild also asked for the company to make its insurance brokers, Rowlands & Barranca, available to answer members’ questions at 1 p.m. Monday in the Executive Conference Room.

The decision to recommend the yes vote came at the end of a day where the parties met in a closed-door session in an attempt to settle the contract and all legal issues. The company listened to the union’s proposal and promised to respond shortly. While the Guild would like to have tied the change in health care to a contract, union leaders also recognize a clock was ticking on getting the insurance plans in place for January 1. Given the ability to contain the premium cost, the Executive Board opted to send the proposal to a vote of members with a yes recommendation. The talks on a full contract settlement will continue

The Newspaper Guild will meet Tuesday with Times Union management to discuss avenues to reach an overall settlement on all outstanding issues between the parties.

At our lawyer’s advice, the session is being held off-the-record because there are pending legal cases involved. Representing the Guild’s members will be President Tim O’Brien, First Vice President Lindsay LaFountain, Chief Steward Brian Nearing and International Representative Jim Schaufenbil.

The meeting comes as the company is proposing to move Guild members into a new Blue Cross health-care plan. The company has proposed keeping the deductible for that plan at $750, rather than the $1,000 originally sought.

While that plan would be less expensive than the other options presented in terms of the health insurance share, it also would shift costs onto the sickest members. Once the company’s share of the deductible of $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families was reached, members would have to pay 10 percent of any additional medical costs (except for well child care and preventative care like physicals). Employees could then have to pay up to a maximum of $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families. This would apply to everything from hip replacement surgery to cancer care to surgery after a car accident.

Last year, that would have cost 26 employees $2,000 or more in added medical expenses. Thirteen of those would have paid an extra $3,000, and six of those folks would have paid the full $4,000. A total of 198 out of 389 employees would not have had to pay any share of the 90/10 split. (These numbers includes people in management and other unions. We were not given a specific breakdown of people in our union.)

“We are certainly willing to discuss this option, but the cost shifting to the sickest employees means this plan is not comparable to what we now have,” O’Brien said. “A membership vote would be required to approve it, and the company cannot legally impose it. That’s why we think it makes sense to discuss health care in the context of an overall settlement of the contract and legal cases.”

The Guild is also seeking outside expert advice on health care. The committee working on that includes Nearing, Third Vice President Brendan Lyons and Treasurer Dan Roesser.

The Executive Board will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Guild office in the Albany Labor Temple to discuss the results of the day’s discussion. The membership is welcome to attend that Executive Board meeting