Bargaining bulletin, Oct. 7: Guild negotiators and Company representatives continued talks regarding a proposed wage reduction for the BANG-East Bay unit Wednesday without reaching an agreement.

The Guild offered several alternative proposals, including one that would shave 2 percentage points from the Company’s pay cut plan by requiring employees to take one week of their vacation unpaid in 2010. Details of the plan would be worked out in later discussions.

Company representatives said they would respond by Monday. Parties are scheduled to meet again at 11 a.m. Monday.

(more…)

Bargaining bulletin, Sept. 30: Guild representatives met today with company officials to further discuss the proposed Oct. 12 and January pay cuts. We received some new information and responses to some of the ideas we presented during our initial discussions last Friday.

We have reached no agreements. Under the terms of our contract, the Company had to delay any pay cuts until October, and provide at least a two-week period to discuss alternatives, even though pay cuts were implemented in June for some non-union employees. If we do not reach an agreement in two weeks, the company can implement pay cuts on the same terms announced for non-union employees.

The talks are set to resume Wed., Oct. 7 in Oakland.

(more…)

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:

(more…)

Bargaining bulletin, May 28: Negotiators for the Bay Area News Group-East Bay Guild Unit reached a tentative agreement with company management Thursday for a new labor contract.

The proposed labor agreement would be the first for the 180-member BANG-East Bay Unit, which organized in June 2008.

Guild members now get to vote whether to ratify the accord.

Two meetings are scheduled Tuesday June 2:

• 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in Conference Room 202 at the Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek, and
• 5-8 p.m. at the CWA Hall, 1831 Park Blvd., in Oakland.

Ballots will be collected at both locations, but results will not be announced until after the Oakland meeting.

We strongly encourage all members to study the proposed contract, consider the views of bargainers and your colleagues, and participate in this vote — so critical for the sake of our jobs, our new union and our company. Any bargaining unit members who have not yet joined the Guild may still do so. Contact any shop steward or unit officer, or call 415-421-6833, for an application form.

The negotiations were complicated by an unprecedented downturn in the economic fortunes of the newspaper industry, which has led to ongoing layoffs, pay cuts and benefit losses around the country. In the Bay Area, Guild members at the San Francisco Chronicle recently endured 150 job cuts after the Hearst Corp. threatened to close the paper, while the San Jose Mercury News Guild Unit is facing paycuts and other concession proposals in a separate contract proposal scheduled for a membership ratification vote on Monday.

“We didn’t get everything we wanted, but we think this proposal is a strong starting point to build our future relationship with the company,” said Sara Steffens, unit chair of the East Bay Guild unit. “There are some things in this contract that nobody’s had before at BANG-East Bay.”
(more…)