Monthly Archives: March 2007

Where is the “flurry of information?”

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On March 8, copy editors expressed their frustration with the lack of vital information they need to know to prepare for the move to the new building and, more importantly, to live and plan their lives.

Managers have given some copy editors their new schedules individually. That’s how we now know there will be a “swing shift” from 12:30 to 9 p.m. We still don’t know how many people will be on this shift and if copy editor schedules will rotate.

But many copy editors still do not all know such critical information what their job duties will be, how seniority will work and whether they will be allowed to take vacation when they want. (Remember, our contract calls for work schedules to be posted two weeks in advance. That means no later than April 20 for the first day of the universal desk.)

At that March 8 meeting, Managing Editor David Goodwin promised a “flurry of information” by the end of the month answering these sorts of questions. On Tuesday, Guild representatives reminded Managing Editor Jana Collier that today would be the last working day of the month and that people needed answers now.

If they were not going to give the promised information, we told Collier, managers better be prepared to give copy editors an iron clad schedule of when these things would be explained. And those answers had better be forthcoming very soon.

Well, it’s now late on Friday. Where is the “flurry?” Where is the schedule for when this vital information will come?

Some of these details the company has literally been promising would come any day for OVER A YEAR! And then the company wonders why people don’t trust their promises when they aren’t in writing.

Remember, wear RED next Friday!

Wear RED on Fridays!

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In response to the company’s recent hardball tactics at the bargaining table, Guild leaders think its time for us to show unity, and send the company a message that we mean business when it comes to getting a fair contract.

So we’re asking our members and supporters to WEAR RED beginning next Friday, April 6. We’re asking our members to wear red on Fridays throughout the month of April as the move to the new building commences.

We’ve chosen the color red this time as a symbolic protest of the company’s plan to “redline” or cap the earnings of one-third of editorial workers within two years. This means one in three of us will get no raise, no matter how hard we work and no matter how much our hard work benefits the company.

If you don’t have much red in your wardrobe, let us know. We are working on making red ribbons for our supporters to wear. You’ll be hearing more about the Wear Red Fridays in the upcoming days. Show your support for the Guild and urge the company to treat editorial workers fairly!

Meetings set for new Guild members

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The Guild on Tuesday signed an agreement with the company that will guarantee better wages for all copy editors who will be joining the new universal desk in Dayton. Under the pact, all new copy editors will be part of our bargaining unit and are eligible for membership in the Guild. This means job protections and work rules in our contract will apply to them.

To orient these new folks, the Guild will hold informational meetings for new members:

 

Monday, April 2 from 3 to 3:45 p.m.
At the Springfield Public Library
Gaier Room
201 S. Fountain Ave.

and

Tuesday, April 3 from 3 to 3:45 p.m.
At the Middletown Public Library
Community Room
125 S. Broad St.

At the meetings, we will discuss:

• The current contract rules

• Negotiations for a new contract that are underway

• How new members can become active

• Issues related to the move to Dayton

• Any questions new members may have

Those with questions can e-mail any Guild officer through our main website atdaytonguild.org

New child care benefit exclusive to the Guild

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One idea that was considered and rejected for the new building was an on-site child care center. This would have been a great benefit to working parents.

Instead, parents who need new child care options with the move are largely on their own. With even a few simple phone calls, the company could have done more to secure stronger ties with nearby centers and even discounted rates.

But where the company dropped the ball, the Guild has stepped in to secure a discounted rate for a high quality child care option for our members.

 

Guild Treasurer Scott Elliott’s kids attend pre-school at Wee Haven Children’s Center, just a hop, skip and a jump from the new building at 2201 W. Schantz Ave.

It recently occurred to Scott that other DDN employees might be interested in learning about Wee Haven, since it is so close by and some new downtown workers are relocating, possibly in need of child care. In fact, Wee Haven director Susan Engler said she was even willing to discuss a discount for Cox employees when Scott asked her about it. Engler said child care centers close to large companies often negotiate discounts.

So Scott took the idea to Human Resources, where they agreed to put Wee Haven on a list of nearby providers and distribute it to employees at the new building. But despite Scott’s urging that all it would take is a phone call to secure discounts at some of these centers, HR declined to follow up.

So instead, the Guild followed up. Engler has agreed to offer a 15 percent discount for the children of any active Guild member who enrolls in one of Wee Haven’s programs. The center serves children from age 2 to 12 and offers home cooked breakfast and lunch. It is is open from 6:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. year round (except two weeks at Christmas) and transports school age children to and from 10 nearby public and private schools for before and after care. The center also offers summer programs for both pre-school and school-age kids.

The center is highly recommended by Scott Elliott, Lynn Hulsey and M.B. Hopkins, active Guild members who all have had children enrolled there and are willing to answer your questions about Wee Haven.

For more information, call Engler at 293-7266 or visit Wee Haven online.

Guild gain continues; active membership hits two-thirds!

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With another strong run of recent signups, an amazing two-thirds of eligible newsroom workers are now active withe the Guild. This is a truly remarkable achievement, givenhow far we’ve come from not so long ago when the Guild’s participation levels were critically low. But even the recent gains are tremendous –a jump of 18 percentage points just since Dec. 1.

And this is the time when we need each other most. As negotiations with the companyspeed up and begin to get down to the big issues, the company already has begun to question the notion that our people truly stand together and believe in our collective cause. They’ve begun to test our resolve and challenge our will to stand for our positions.

You can help. Two out of three of us are active with the guild. That means one of three people sitting near you at work is not yet an active member. If you already are active, thanks! Talk to your co-workers about the benefits of Guild membership and urge them to join. Our goal is 75 percent active members during these talks. That would send a strong message to the company that we are truly unified in pursuit of a good contract.

If you have been thinking about becoming active, now is the time (everybody’s doing it!). See any guild officer (you can e-mail them through our main Web site atdaytonguild.org) for the forms you’ll need.

Welcome newest Guild members!

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The Guild today completed successful negotiations on a limited agreement with the company that will allow copy editors from the Cox Southwest Group and Springfield to join our copy desk. All of these new editorial workers in the Dayton newsroom are now covered under our contract and part of our bargaining unit.

Because of the Guild’s presence and efforts through the years, the Dayton Daily News’ editorial department’s pay levels are well above those of the other, non-union newspapers that came under the Cox umbrella in the past decade. Through our talks with the company, we were able to secure an agreement that includes solid raises for all these new workers who will join the universal desk in Dayton, along with the job protections and sensible work rules our current members enjoy.

We also resolved another issue with this limited agreement — ensuring editorial workers enjoy the same privileges that will be offered to other Dayton Daily News employees who will relocate to the new building. Parking is now guaranteed to be free to our members and joining the new company health club will cost the same low, subsidized fee offered to other employee groups.

Finding the right “track”

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We figured it would start soon enough, and now it has: the company is doing the old carrot-and-stick routine at the bargaining table.

At their request, we are bargaining on two “tracks,” the traditional and the “fast track.” Under the traditional route, we’ve made some progress, even signing 22 tentative agreements, but many of the main issues have not yet been dealt with.

But we began getting down to the big questions when the company revealed its fast track proposal last week. It really isn’t a detailed proposal, just a broad outline of issues and ideas. We’re still researching it and will be giving you more information about it soon. We’re working on fast track counter-proposals.

But the comical part is that the company is pushing us to agree quickly. Yes, that is correct. The company, which has traditionally dragged out bargaining endlessly, now wants a quick resolution, maybe even in April, they said.

The company’s negotiators have insinuated that they might be less agreeable to making a deal if a deal can’t be done quickly. If talks go on into the summer, they said, the company might just declare impasse and post new, radically different work rules for editorial employees. “That’s not a threat,” they said. It sure sounds like a threat to us.

On our side, we’re willing to explore any offer the company wants to make — fast track or the usual way. If moving faster can result in a good deal, then that’s great. But let’s be clear. We are interested only in a FAIR and REASONABLE contract, however long that takes.

We’re going to be asking our members over the next few weeks to show support for our bargaining team and unity with one another to send a message to the company that we won’t be bullied and that we want a fair contract. You’ll hear more soon.

Talks with the company: We’re making progress

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The Guild held three bargaining sessions with representatives of the company over the last few weeks and the talks overall have gone well. Both sides remain respectful, open to discussion and have worked hard toward forging a deal.

In fact, at the end of Wednesday’s session, we had reached tentative agreement on 22 provisions for the new contract. Many of these are side issues. The really big questions have been discussed but much work remains.

Still, the speed with which we resolved these secondary matters was encouraging. Many of the tentative agreements carry forward language from our last contract. Some are tentative agreements both sides reached during talks in the 1990s that failed to result in a new contract. But some of these provisions are made up primarily of new language proposed by the Guild.

Here is a summary of what’s been agree to so far. Keep in mind that this is a summary and not the exact language of the agreements. If you want more information or you’d like to see the actual language, email any Guild officer (our email addresses can be found atdaytonguild.org).

So far we’ve agreed that:

–New language says the company will furnish equipment, utensils, material and work space necessary to perform Company work, as determined necessary by supervisors.

–When employees are traveling to assignments, that travel time is considered on the clock.

–Employees cannot duplicate overtime or holiday pay. They are forbidden from being paid overtime or holiday pay more than once for the same hours worked.

–The company has the right to select for overtime those employees it feels are competent to do the work whenever it deems such overtime is necessary.

–Employees will work overtime when asked except in reasonable circumstances but no overtime can be worked unless it is authorized by the company in advance.

–The bylines or credit lines of employees cannot be used over their protest.

–Employees cannot be disciplined for seeking enforcement of the contract.

–The Guild has the right to use bulletin boards and company email for communications as long as it does not disrupt company operations. Company negotiators clarified that by disruption it means large emails (such as streaming video) that interfere with the email system.

–Performance reviews will be given to all employees at least once a year and employees can request additional evaluations if their supervisors agree.

–The probation period for new employees will be 90 days and can be extended an additional 90 days by mutual consent of the company and employee. The Guild is notified of extensions. Seniority rights begin on the date of hire but are not in effect until after the employee successfully completes probation.

–Employees cannot be dismissed for any reasons other than just cause. Disciplinary actions are subject to the grievance procedure.

–The Company shall post all job vacancies for five working days. Employees of the Company will be given consideration for job openings.

–The Company must give the Guild two months notice before a reduction in force. The Guild is allowed at least two weeks to negotiate on behalf of employees facing layoff to either find a different position or to develop a severance package.

–In the event of a reduction in force, temporary employees would be laid off before permanent employees.

–Leaves of absence without pay for personal reasons are permitted at the Company’s sole discretion after a written request. Leaves may be extended or renewed with the company’s approval. Employees returning from leave will be reinstated at the rate of pay, plus contract increases during the leave, held by the employee before the leave of absence.

–The Company will consider sabbatical requests on an individual basis. The Managing Editor is the sole judge of granting sabbatical leave and granting reimbursed expenses and salary.

–Should federal or state law conflicts with any provision of the contract, the provision will no longer be in effect or binding but the rest of the agreement continues in full force and effect.

–Both sides agree to negotiates changes to replace such provisions.

–Both sides agree to continue their policy on nondiscrimination against any employee because of race, creed, religion, color, gender, age, sexual orientation, political affiliation or national origin, in regard to employment, advancement or acceptance into Guild membership.

–The company agrees not to lock out any of the Guild employees during the contract term.

–There can be no strikes, sympathy strikes, wildcat strikes, sitdowns, slow-downs or work stoppages during the term of the agreement by the Guild or by the employees.

The Guild: Just being here made buyouts better

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Some of you probably saw the story in Atlanta’s alternative newspaper, called Creative Loafing, about the proposed buyouts at the Journal-Constitution. On Creative Loafing’s blog, one of its columnists rips the Atlanta buyout plan and points out that it pales in comparision to the buyouts offered at the AJC’s sister paper, the Dayton Daily News.

Why were the DDN buyouts a better deal? Creative Loafing says it’s simple — because Dayton editorial workers are represented by the Guild but Atlanta has no union representation.

But how did our local Guild affect the buyout proposal here when we were not even approached to discuss the plan before it was announced? Simple. Just by being here the Guild gave the company incentive to offer a better deal.

This is what we mean.

The Atlanta and Dayton buyout deals were largely the same except for one difference — in Dayton, employees between age 55 and 65 were offered “bridge” pay until they were eligible for more retirement income. This made the buyout a much better deal and was the tipping point that convinced many of our workers that they could actually afford to retire. Atlanta workers got no such offer. They have to sweat it out until they reach retirement age.

Again, why the difference? Because in Dayton, if nobody took the buyout and the company wanted to downsize the newsroom anyway, our contract calls for layoffs to be done in reverse order of seniority. In other words, the company could not have simply laid off the folks between age 55 and 65. It would have had to layoff the youngest, cheapest, most recently hired workers or you can bet it would have had a fight on its hands from the Guild. So rather than fight that battle, they just made it easy for older workers to choose the buyout by making it a better deal.

Now, why not do the same in Atlanta? Because if you are over age 55 at the AJC, you have to worry about what happens to you if you decline the buyout. The company could very well look around and pick and choose who to layoff. You could lose your job anyway without even the modest sweetners offered in the Atlanta buyout.

That’s because the Guild is not standing in the AJC’s way. So Cox management says to itself, “Why sweeten the pot to get what we want when we can scare folks into leaving?”

This is one simple example of the value of united workers banding together through the Guild to protect themselves against the whims of the company. Just by being here we protect our jobs and workplace rights.