Bargaining bulletin, Sept. 26: Representatives for the BANG-EB unit of the Media Workers Guild met Friday with company negotiators to discuss pay cuts proposed by management.

Under the contract ratified by our members in June, no pay cuts could be implemented before the Oct. 12 payroll period. As expected, management has moved forward with a plan to cut the pay of Guild-represented employees under the same terms already implemented in June for unrepresented employees.

The Guild has two weeks to offer alternatives to the cuts, and committee members began to do so Friday.

We objected to the need for any pay cuts, arguing it’s a mistake to further demoralize a workforce already battered by layoffs and benefit reductions at a time when the economic climate appears to be improving.

Assuming that some cost cuts may be needed, we made several suggestions on how to mitigate or avoid the salary reductions. The company has agreed to respond to the Guild’s suggestions by Wednesday.

Some of the alternatives we raised include:

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Bargaining bulletin, Dec. 2: Our Guild negotiating team reached tentative agreements with BANG-EB management Tuesday on military leaves and our right to obtain current information about our bargaining unit.

We made headway on discipline procedures, and discussed hours and overtime, four-day work weeks and time off for family and other leaves. We think we are moving closer to agreement in all of those areas.

Considerable time was devoted to discussion of health care and the open enrollment announced to employees today. We asked for information about changes in costs to employer and employee. The company confirmed that it plans to end the 2008 subsidy to healthcare premiums, as they announced when it was originally put in place. However, we have offered to investigate the option of linking with the San Francisco Chronicle Guild Unit and Hearst Corp. on a new approach that may help contain costs in the future.

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