Publisher George Hearst said today he will produce the names of people he wants to lay off next week, and some of them will be out of seniority.

Guild President Tim O’Brien replied that the union will file a legal challenge to any attempt to impose any of the Company’s proposals. The union does not believe we are at a legal impasse, especially given the broad discretion the Company demands under its outsourcing and layoff language.

The parties will meet, discuss the criteria the Company intends to use for deciding who gets laid off and then Hearst said he will provide the names. That will start the 45-day clock under the Company’s language to negotiate any layoffs.

O’Brien noted that while the union will meet with the Company, it is not waiving any of its rights to legally challenge whatever the Times Union attempts to do.

The publisher did not say how many employees would be forced out of a job, though he says it should be in line with the estimate he gave earlier. He had 60 to 70 employees could be let go, but that was before some 16 people took voluntary buyouts.

O’Brien will fly down to Washington, D.C. Thursday for the Guild’s annual sector conference, where he will meet with the International’s leaders and the union attorney to prepare the case to challenge the company’s declaration of impasse. The sector conference runs through Saturday. O’Brien will skip the CWA portion of the convention in order to be back in Albany on Monday to prepare for the layoff discussions.

The Times Union is seeking to punish employees for voting ‘no’ on its proposal to outsource any and all jobs and to lay off employees regardless of their length of service.

Shunning offers of compromise, the company said Tuesday it is declaring an impasse and will impose terms effective June 24. While Guild President Tim O’Brien had come to Publisher George Hearst in person immediately after the vote Monday to offer an olive branch, Hearst informed the union leader of his decision by e-mail sent through his secretary Tuesday evening.

“The publisher, sadly, did not have the courage to deliver the message face to face,” O’Brien said.

The publisher’s letter said he would drop the $500 bonus he had proposed to pay workers in lieu of raises this year and next. That decision breaks a promise he made to editorial workers in one of his sessions prior to the vote.

The Company will seek to force employees to accept layoffs without regard to seniority and the wholesale outsourcing of their work, conditions they soundly rejected in their vote. While it won’t pay the bonuses, it will seek to increase your share of health care costs by 5 percent effective Jan. 1, costing more than $300 a year under current rates. The Times Union also will try to impose language enabling bosses to change your days off once a year without your consent.

“The publisher told employees repeatedly he really wanted them to vote,” O’Brien said. “When they rejected his offer by a more than 3 to 1 margin, however, the Times Union rejected offers of compromise and decided it needed to punish the employees who make the Times Union profitable.”

The TU also seeks to punish the employees by making the end of dues collection and arbitration rights permanent.

“Every step of the way in these negotiations, the Guild has offered compromise,” O’Brien said. “And every time we have done so, the Company has responded by demanding more and more and more. They have failed to bargain in good faith. They have demanded the kinds of concessions that newspapers that have declared bankruptcy or been losing millions for years have received. The publisher has said this newspaper is profitable. He has refused to show us the books. There is no excuse for his behavior. The Times Union should be ashamed of itself.”

In one of his meetings prior to the vote, Hearst told editorial employees that canceling the $500 bonus was something he could do if he declared impasse but he assured workers he had no intention to do so. Clearly upset at the vote, he broke his promise.

The Guild will not take this action lightly. We will file a legal challenge to the Company’s claim of impasse.

“The only winners as a result of the publisher’s actions will be the lawyers,” O’Brien said. “But we will continue to fight for our members, and we know the public is solidly behind us and will continue to voice its opposition to the company’s reprehensible behavior.”

The members of the Newspaper Guild elected two new leaders to the Executive Board.

Dan Roesser, an employee in the marketing/specialty publications subdepartment, stepped up to the position of treasurer. Hired by the Times Union in 2006, Dan joined the board last year as a vice president. He agreed to fill the treasurer’s position vacated by Renee Iannone, who took a buyout. The Guild is extremely grateful to Renee for her years of service to the union and its members. She continued to help the union through a transition to a new treasurer during a particularly challenging time.

Replacing Roesser as second vice president is Sarah Diodato of the Web desk. Sarah joined the Times Union in 2004. She is the main contributor to the Savings Source blog, and she recently earned her master’s degree in human-computer interaction from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. For the past two years, she has been the Guild’s Webmaster. As anyone who has viewed the Web site knows, she’s done a terrific job, enabling us to post a blog, videos, an online contract survey and an online historical quiz.

In nominating Sarah at Sunday’s membership meeting, Guild member and past president Ken Crowe noted that both she and Dan represent a new generation of Guild leadership and reflect the union’s deep commitment to being part of the Internet-based future of the news business. Both candidates were elected unanimously by voice vote.

“We are grateful to both Dan and Sarah for stepping up to these roles in a challenging time,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “They both bring a fresh, young perspective to the board that we very much appreciate.”

By a more than three-to-one margin, employees of the Times Union voted  today to reject a contract offer that would have given the company the power to outsource any and all jobs and lay off employees regardless of how long they had worked at the newspaper.

Publisher George Hearst had insisted on the vote and strongly encouraged members to participate. The members rejected the proposal by a vote of 125 to 35.

“Had the membership approved the company’s proposal, we would have respected their decision and been bound by it,” said Guild President Tim O’Brien. “The publisher sought this vote, told members how important it was to him that they vote and he needs to respect their decision. Our members were quite clear on what they found unacceptable in the company’s offer and they have been telling us what changes would make it acceptable. We intend to seek new bargaining dates and to go forward with a renewed spirit of flexibility.”

The publisher should take a renewed look at the proposal, listen to the concerns of his employees and come back to the table ready to compromise.

“As a sign of our good faith, the Guild is suspending its advertising campaign so that we can go forward with a new spirit of collaboration,” O’Brien said. “We look forward to returning to the table, and we believe the parties can and should come together in a compromise that will reflect both the perilous nature of our times as well as the need to continue to produce a quality newspaper staffed by local employees.”

As our members prepare to vote on the Company’s proposal, union members gathered outside the Times Union Thursday for a show of solid support.

Some 75 union members rallied outside the newspaper holding signs, cheering and attracting supportive honks from passing motorists. They came from a wide assortment of unions including NYSUT, UUP, PEF, CSEA, the Steelworkers, the Amlgamated Transit Union, the Teamsters, and other units of CWA.

Highly regarded defense attorney Steve Coffey came to the rally after talking about the  Guild’s battle for a fair contract Thursday morning on Paul Vandenburgh’s radio show on Talk 1300. Coffey said he was disturbed that the Times Union would seek to lay off employees who had been at the paper 20, 30 or 40 years like Carol DeMare. He also said the newspaper should not be seeking a blank check to outsource work.

Also attending were Assemblyman Robert Reilly and County Legislators Douglas Bullock and Bryan M. Clenahan.

“When you work inside the concrete bunker that is the Times Union building, you often don’t realize what tremendous support we have in the Capital Region,” said Guild President Tim O’Brien. “The Times Union’s efforts to outsource our jobs and eliminate seniority have galvinized community attention. They recognize the damage that would have on the newspaper, its advertisers and our readers. We are appreciative to all who came out today and to our members who joined us.”