The Newspaper Guild and the Times Union reached agreement this week on the selection of an arbitrator to hear the Guild’s case over the cutting off of our dues last year.

The parties chose an experienced arbitrator, James Collins, to hear the case and decide whether the newspaper improperly cut off dues collection. If the union wins, the company would not only have to resume collecting dues out of paychecks. It would have to reimburse the union for any dues not paid, as happened in Providence, Rhode Island.

In Providence, to be fair to those who paid dues all along, the local gave everyone in good standing half the money paid by the company and required members who were in arrears to pay half of what they owed. This way, everyone paid the same dues.

Tim Schick, the administrative director at the international and past administrator for the Providence local, has clarified what happened there: The company was ordered to pay the back dues. That led the parties to negotiate a full contract settlement. As part of that deal, members in arrears paid double dues through payroll deduction until they became current.

This summer, the Guild won a legal victory in U.S. District Court when Judge Gary Sharpe ordered the newspaper to let the case go to arbitration. The Times Union appealed and sought a stay of his order, which has not been granted. The company is reserving its right to continue its appeal.

“Providence had contract language that was almost identical,” the Guild’s attorney, Barbara Camens, told the Executive Board recently. “I have complete confidence we are going to win the appeal.”

Camens added that the legal victory in Rhode Island created “some of the leverage used to get a contract. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

That has always been the intent of the Guild in Albany too.

“We are glad to see the company agree on arbitrator,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “All we’ve ever wanted was a fair contract that lets our members negotiate when the company wants to eliminate their jobs. This creates significant momentum toward reaching that goal.”

The Guild has other leverage including winning a legal victory in the illegal layoffs of employees last year and the company’s recent desire to switch health care plans to one that is not comparable as the imposed conditions require.

“Each of these victories hopefully creates some leverage,” Camens told the board, referring to the legal cases.

International President Bernie Lunzer agreed during the same conversation.  “I am confident the cases are losers for them,” he said.

Camens noted the legal cases are being paid for by the International and are not costing the Albany local anything extra.

“The leverage trend is in our favor,” Camens added. “We’re winning, and they’re losing.”

Members approved a buyout offer at a meeting Tuesday at the Colonie Public Library, and they also supported changing the bylaws to set Oct. 30 as the date members needed to in good standing on in order to vote in the upcoming Guild election.

The buyout offer will pay three weeks of pay for every year of service, with a minimum of 15 weeks and a maximum of 52. Employees will get health-care coverage for the same period of time, and the company has agreed not to challenge unemployment claims.

The Times Union has said it is targeting specific positions in advertising art/marketing, the Web desk and among district managers, but no one is barred from applying. The company also might approve a buyout if one of the people in targeted areas could then move into that position. (For example, a Web desk person could become a page designer.)

Interested members will have until Nov. 9 to apply. Publisher George Hearst said people will be informed if their buyout is accepted the week of Nov. 15–21, with their last day being the end of that week.

The union members also approved a change to the bylaws that changes the date to be in good standing for the union election from Sept. 30 to Oct. 30. All members who are in good standing as of Oct. 30 are now eligible to vote and will be receiving a ballot around Nov. 19 in the mail. Please read directions carefully and put in the mail before Dec. 14.

Members also learned that the company is in the midst of providing information to the alternative health-care provider the Guild proposed for consideration. We will make information on where that leads as soon as it is available.

The Newspaper Guild presented the company this week with a possible alternative for health care through an insurance fund offered to CWA members.

Begun in 1944, the United Furniture Workers Insurance Fund uses the Blue Cross/Blue Shield network. While the fund is directly connected to Blue Cross Blue Sheild of Tennessee, it provides health care throughout the country. Workers at such diverse papers as the Chicago Sun-Times, the Delaware County Times in Pennsylvania and the Amsterdam News and El Diario in New York City use the fund.

Other Guild locals in Boston and Buffalo are considering the switch.

You can check if your doctor accepts the insurance here.

“We think it’s worth exploring to see whether this insurance would be less expensive for everyone,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “We provided the company with the information the fund would need in order to put together a bid just like the other insurance companies did. Once that information is provided to them, we will see if that could provide a better option for all concerned.”

As long as there is a CWA union in the building, which the Guild is, the fund is willing to provide medical insurance for all employees including exempt managers and members of other unions. The Guild will continue to keep its members informed with the  latest information on health care.

The Teamsters have already sent the company a letter stating that none of the options presented so far are comparable so they cannot be imposed. We agree, but we’re waiting to see what this fund can do for us before we make any final decisions on our next step.

The Times Union proposed a dramatic increase in health-care costs late Thursday afternoon that was rejected by both the Guild and the Teamsters.

Publisher George Hearst and the company’s insurance brokers provided three different costly options.

The first would allow members to stay with MVP but the cost would rise from $33.80 a week to $51.38 and the deductible would rise from $750 to $1,000.

The second option, which the company was promoting, was to switch to a Blue Cross plan that would cost $46.28 a week but would require both a $1,000 deductible and employees would have to pay 10 percent of any nonpreventive care. That means if you had cancer, got into a car accident or otherwise needed medical care, you’d have to pay up to an additional $2,000 for an individual or a whopping $4,000 for a family.

The third option was a Blue Cross plan with no percentage payment but a huge $2,000 deductible. Under that plan, members would pay $45.82 a week.

As part of its proposal, the company also tried to shift some additional costs to the unions, prompting Teamsters’ President Mike Cipollo to understandably walk out.

Tim O’Brien and Lindsay LaFountain represented the Guild. Both O’Brien and Cipollo told Hearst the proposed insurance was not comparable.

Under the conditions imposed by the Company, the Times Union must provide either existing insurance or a comparable plan.

“This is not comparable,” O’Brien told Hearst. “My members have not had a raise in three years. They cannot afford this hit. We will not agree to change to a plan that is not comparable without a full contract settlement.”

The union’s Executive Board is meeting at 6 p.m. Monday to hear Guild International Barbara Camens review the legal cases the union has been winning. The board will add the health care issue and putting together a contract proposal to its agenda. The meeting is open to all members and will be held at the Guild’s office at 890 Third St., Albany.

“Once a company imposes conditions, it cannot make any further changes to the contract without agreement,” O’Brien said. “Given that our members are seeing their wages frozen, people in advertising are getting their commissions cut, members have to worry if they are being targeted for layoff, and everyone is struggling to make ends meet, we would only agree to changes as part of a total settlement. And that still doesn’t mean any of the options presented are acceptable. We will put together a reasonable package proposal that should be acceptable to both our members and the Times Union. We hope the newspaper’s leaders will be as flexible as we are.”

The Guild will meet Thursday with the company to learn about the proposed health insurance costs for 2011.

The parties are scheduled to meet in the afternoon. The union will be represented by President Tim O’Brien and First Vice President Lindsay LaFountain. The union plans to distribute information on the 2011 rates to members on Friday.

Under the conditions imposed by the company last year, the percentage of health care costs employees pay will rise again from 21 to 23 percent of the total cost of health and dental care. January is the last time the company can raise the percentage absent negotiations for a new contract. Once conditions are posted,they cannot be changed without returning to contract talks.

The posted conditions also require the health-care plan be comparable to the one we have now.