By Keith Kelly
New York Post Photos added by
Broadcast Union News
Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. |
Labor relations between Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.,
chairman of the New York Times Co., and the Newspaper Guild — which
appeared to be edging toward less hostility a few weeks ago — took a
turn for the worse this week.
The Guild, with more than 1,100
members, has been without a contract since March 1, 2011. Talks broke
off last year and only resumed following the December 2011 ouster of CEO
Janet Robinson.
There were actually two
contracts, one that covered 1,000 mainly print side employees, and a
second one that covered about 100 digital-only editorial workers.
The expectation has been that there would be one new contract for both types of employees.
The
talks have gone through ups and downs, but recently as more serious
negotiations on issues such as the pension plan began to take place, the
rhetoric appeared to be cooling off a bit.
But earlier this week, Bill O’Meara, president of the Guild, said that the company “dropped a bomb” on the process by demanding dual contracts.
O’Meara feels the move by the Times is a prelude to declaring an impasse.
The
union boss is threatening to file grievances with the National Labor
Relations Board over the digital work that many have been asked to do
and said he might seek a strike authorization vote from members.
“With
a possible breakthrough looming after nearly a year and half of
negotiations, Times corporate management inexplicably dropped a bomb on
the process [Tuesday] by presenting two new comprehensive proposals
aimed at negotiating two separate contracts: print and digital.”
“Management’s
dual-contract demand is a legal maneuver to preserve its option to
declare the talks at an ‘impasse’ — a rarely used, draconian move that
would enable management to impose its ‘last, best’ contract offer on
members.”
Terry Hayes |
In the past, the Times Co. has declined to discuss the labor negotiations publicly, but a day after the Guild memo, Terry Hayes,
the company’s senior vice president, operations and labor, issued a
lengthy memo to employees, apparently in a bid to cool down the
situation.
Hayes countered that it was the Guild that dug in its
heels by refusing to commit to negotiating a single contract for print
and digital workers.
“While the Guild negotiators have intimated
that they, too, wanted a unified contract, when we asked them [Tuesday]
to explicitly commit to negotiate a single contract that erases the
increasingly irrelevant distinctions between our print and digital
journalism, they refused.”
The Times had been pushing to abolish its pension plan and replace it with a 401(k) pension plan.
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"If impasse is declared, the Guild would challenge the move at the National Labor Relations Board. A strike authorization vote, members' only other recourse, is another option," the Guild said in a statement on Tuesday.
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Broadcast Union News Note: In a statement obtained by The Huffington Post, the Guild charged
that the paper was "disingenuously" portraying its position. "What we
told Times management during the July 17 talks is that we’re not waiving
that right, but that we intend to continue bargaining toward a unified
contract," the statement read.
Employees also hit out at the Times' response in a YouTube video,
called "NY Times blows up contract talks with Guild," on Thursday. The
video featured several staff members urging the paper to agree to a
"fair contract."
"If corporate management continues to show disrespect for its journalists, the best and brightest will leave the Times," said staff editor Clay Risen. Dan Wakin, who has been a reporter at the Times for twelve years, added, "It's already happening."
"If corporate management continues to show disrespect for its journalists, the best and brightest will leave the Times," said staff editor Clay Risen. Dan Wakin, who has been a reporter at the Times for twelve years, added, "It's already happening."
The union has speculated that the paper wants to impose a pension
freeze and increased working hours on employees through a measure called
an impasse.
"If impasse is declared, the Guild would challenge the move at the National Labor Relations Board. A strike authorization vote, members' only other recourse, is another option," the Guild said in a statement on Tuesday.
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