Update and bargaining bulletin, March 3: The Guild met with BANG’s management on Monday to talk about a number of issues that affect employees. Here is an update on where things stand:

Vacation
We discussed the company’s recent push for employees to use their vacation time, with an emphasis on taking those days before the end of June, and striving to use up each year’s accrual without banking time. We encourage workers to schedule their known vacations for many reasons, including easier bookkeeping and scheduling for the company, and making sure employees get the time off they want. However, we object to unit members being strongly pressured or forced to take vacations against their will.

Management maintains they can schedule vacation time for employees if they don’t do it themselves; the Guild disagrees. We’ve reminded the company of our contract provision allowing Guild-represented employees to accrue up to 1.75 times their yearly vacation accrual. The company agreed to this in previous contract negotiations after the Guild offered up a system that had employees scheduling all their yearly accrued vacation up front. Management turned down that proposal, and we take issue with an attempt to impose a condition the company previously rejected at the bargaining table.

For the time being, the company has met their vacation goals and the issue has died down. If it resurfaces, please contact your shop steward or other unit officer.

Holidays
The Guild has also asked management to clarify their position in writing on which days our workers will be eligible for the holiday premium pay this year, particularly for holidays that fall on weekends. We’d like to resolve this issue and communicate to employees about it well before the holidays to avoid confusion and disputes.

Students and interns
We also discussed with management some special arrangements, like the partnership with UC Berkeley students covering Richmond through their online publication Richmond Confidential. The Guild supports innovation and we believe such arrangements can be beneficial for both the students and BANG. These partnerships are acceptable as long as they do not take work away from Guild members, and the details of the arrangements are clear to all involved: The students, the editors and our unit members. The Guild does not believe these arrangements are a threat to full-time jobs, but we will continue to question the company on any concerns our employees have about workers outside the unit.

In addition, we brought up the company’s use of interns, and Guild leaders will be going over details such as how many interns will be employed and the length of their service. We will be discussing this issue more at our next membership meeting (see more information below).

Freelancers
The Guild also continued to press the company this week on the use of freelancers as hourly employees, which the company said it also opposes. The Guild asked the company to look into this practice, and reiterated that if anyone is currently working in that capacity, they should not lose work but rather be hired on a more permanent basis.

Training
Some good news: The company said it is within weeks of applying for training for up to four workers offered by the Bay Area Video Coalition, and will be contacting Guild members who had proposed this.

San Mateo County
Finally, we’ve clarified with management the changes to the San Mateo County Times that will now have the paper more aligned with the San Jose Mercury News. The company said San Mateo staff will remain in the BANG-EB Unit and will continue to report to BANG-EB supervisors. Local content will still come from San Mateo staff, but with San Jose content being added.

Representing the Guild: Unit chair Eric Louie and CWA/TNG local representative Carl Hall
Representing the company: Vice President Jim Janiga and labor relations attorney Andy Huntington

Next membership meeting
Join us at our unit’s next general membership meeting to talk about workplace issues, an intern policy, the company’s bankruptcy, and negotiating our next contract, among other things.

7 p.m. Monday, March 8
CWA Hall,
1831 Park Blvd., Oakland

All are welcome and ideas are encouraged!

Union scholarships
Need money for college? Union families in the Communications Workers of America and California Media Workers Guild can apply now for our national and local scholarships.

CWA members and their spouses, children and grandchildren, including those of retired or deceased members, can try for the $3,000 (plus another $3,000 with a year of good marks) Joe Beirne Foundation grant.

Our own local offers a competition for awards up to $500. College-bound children and other dependents of members in good standing can apply.

Find details on both programs, including applications, at www.MediaWorkers.org. Winners will be announced and notified in June.

Freelancers survey
If you’re a student or a freelancer, or know someone who is, please take a minute to fill out or pass along a survey we’re conducting.

Guild Freelancers, our local’s growing freelance unit, is surveying independent journalists, writers and media workers in Northern California about their lives and the freelance market. Many of our members are former newspaper workers.

The resulting data will help us raise awareness about current issues facing freelancers, and will also help us tailor services to your needs.

All questions are optional and answers are anonymous. Find the survey link here.

In the news
* Our holding company, Affiliated Media, is due in federal bankruptcy court Thursday in Delaware, hoping to exit Chapter 11 through its prepackaged restructuring. Here’s  a report from the Wall Street Journal.
* An affiliate of Tribune Co. has filed an objection to the deal, hoping to clarify its ability to sue over an old debt, Denver Biz Journal reported.
* Dean Singleton publicly expressed his support for gay marriage and legalizing marijuana, according to WestWord.
* Plans to erect online pay walls at several MNG properties attracted increasing attention of industry observers. Here’s takes from Business Week, Paid Content and the Business Insider.
* The New York Times mentioned our sister paper, the Daily News, in an article about the unusually competitive newspaper environment in Palo Alto.
* And staffers Josh Richman and Thomas Peele are among four winners of the McGill Medal for Journalism Courage.