The vacation canvassers

Even before the contract is signed, Guild representatives are fanning out across the newsroom to ensure that one of the pact's newest provisions will be properly administered.

Stewards and steward leaders are verifying vacation totals for everyone hired from 1995 to now. The union needs this information to check whether the company is depositing the correct amount of vacation in "transitional vacation accounts" that are being set up for all of the less-senior staffers.

Starting Jan. 1, the new contract changes the way vacations are earned by this group of workers. Until now, all of us have earned our vacations the year before we took them. Anyone hired before 1995 remains on that system, but everyone hired afterward (in practice, everyone hired since the Journal and Sentinel merged) moves onto a new system of earning vacation the same year they take it.

Obviously, a year's worth of vacation would have fallen through the cracks if people just moved straight from one system to the other. To prevent that from happening, the contract sets up the special accounts, or TVAs, with the same amount of vacation that each employee will have for 2006, be it two, three or four weeks. Workers can then take up to one week per year of that extra vacation between now and 2011.

Please cooperate with the Guild representatives who are making sure you get the time off that you deserve.

Final vote count is in

The last of the absentee ballots have been counted in the vote on the 2005-'08 contract, and the final official tally is 116 in favor, 25 opposed. The preliminary vote on Dec. 15 was 110-23.

The Gift of the Guild

'Tis the season to be compensated. If you're working over the holidays, here's what you're entitled to under the Guild contract:

If you work on the actual holiday (Dec. 25 or Jan. 1 in this case): You get overtime for your full shift (fill out a yellow overtime card), plus holiday differential ($5 for Christmas, rising to $7 on New Year's Day, thanks to our new contract; file electronically). Since Christmas and New Year's Day both fall on Sundays this year, you also get weekend differential at the overtime rate ($1.13 an hour, or $9.04 for an 8-hour shift; file electronically). If you're eligible for production differential, that's paid at the overtime rate, too (98 cents an hour, or $7.84 for an 8-hour shift; file electronically). If a holiday falls on a weekday and you work a night shift, the night differential would be paid at the overtime rate ($1.05 an hour, or $8.40 for an 8-hour shift; file electronically).

If you work a night shift on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve: You get overtime for your full shift. Since they're both on Saturdays this year, you also get weekend differential at the overtime rate; if they were on weeknights, you would get night differential at the overtime rate. And if you're eligible for production differential, that is also paid at the overtime rate.

If you work five days in a holiday week (in this case, the week of Dec. 25 or the week of Jan. 1), but not the holiday itself: You get overtime for your full shift on the fifth day (for example, if you work Monday, Dec. 26, and then the rest of the week, you would file for overtime for Friday, Dec. 30). Any night, weekend and/or production differentials for that shift also are paid at the overtime rate.

All of the above provisions apply to both full-timers and part-timers. The only difference is that full-timers get paid holidays off, so any full-timer who works on the holiday automatically gets 8 hours of straight-time pay on their paycheck in addition to the extra money described above.

Questions? See your Guild steward or steward leader. And have a happy holiday season.

Contract ratified

Guild members Thursday ratified a 2005-2008 contract with Journal Sentinel Inc.

With a few absentee ballots left to count, the preliminary vote total is 110 in favor to 23 opposed. That's the most "no" votes ever cast on a contract recommended by the leadership and bargaining committee, reflecting dissatisfaction with the combination of the smallest wage package in years and rising health-care costs. A final vote total is expected early next week.

Guild and company negotiators will now put the contract into final form for signing as soon as possible. Most terms and conditions of the new contract will take effect as soon as it's signed, with others -- including new vacation provisions -- kicking in on Jan. 1 and some taking effect in future years. Back pay could take several weeks to calculate and distribute; management says the payments are likely to be divided into several pieces, with the last piece (possibly as late as March) being the lump-sum bonus that the contract provides in lieu of a 2005 discretionary raise.

After the new contract is signed, it will be posted on the Guild's Web site in place of the current contract. Watch this blog, the Web site and the newsletter for more details of how various contract provisions will be implemented.

Voting opens on Guild contract

The polls are about to open. Guild members can vote on the proposed 2005-2008 contract from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. today in the Grant Library downtown. Today is also the last day for absentee ballots to be postmarked.

If the vote is not close enough for the outcome to be decided by the absentee ballots, we could announce tonight whether the contract has been ratified or rejected. If the vote is close, an announcement would not come until early next week.

Meanwhile, Guild members on all sides of the issue are to be congratulated for conducting a vigorous, thorough and thoughtful debate. No matter how the vote comes out, this was an excellent demonstration of union democracy.

As the schedule turns

We interrupt this discussion of the next contract to turn to an increasingly important provision of the current contract: turnaround pay.

When the local news desk recently posted the weekend schedule for the first quarter of next year, many reporters found themselves assigned at least once to the 4:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. night police shift. As an earlier newsletter noted, this was an expected consequence of management's push to eliminate the jobs of part-time night police reporters Adam Bergstrom and Linda Hanig. We'll have an update in the near future on the Guild's grievance against the downsizing, but for now, neither is on the first-quarter schedule.

Meanwhile, reporters are asking whether our contract allows management to schedule them to work until 1:30 a.m. Monday and then expect them to come back at 9 a.m. Monday. The answer is yes -- but only if the company pays them extra money for their inconvenience. And in a practical sense, many reporters may be able to work out deals with their editors for more flexible start times in such cases.

First, the contractual angle. You get extra money if you have to work the late police shift *either* Sunday or Saturday and are expected to show up any earlier than 11:30 a.m. Monday. That's because the contract sets a minimum turnaround time of 10 hours between consecutive shifts, or 34 hours if a day off intervenes. (This language would remain in the proposed new contract.)

If you have a turnaround shorter than that, the difference is paid at the overtime rate of time-and-a-half. For example, if you are required to come in at 9 a.m. Monday, that would be 2.5 hours short of the minimum turnaround, so you would fill out an OT card to be paid time-and-a-half between 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., and mark it "turnaround."

But here's where common sense comes in. The company doesn't really want to pay all that overtime (which, incidentally, could eat up most of the money saved by what management claims is an economic downsizing of Bergstrom and Hanig). And reasonable editors don't want groggy reporters nodding off at their keyboards. So if you're in this position, you may be able to work out an arrangement with your editors to come in late that Monday.

However, if you do have to come in before 11:30 a.m., don't hesitate to reach for an overtime card. And don't lose a minute's sleep over doing so.

Freedom of, by and for the press

In one of the liveliest contract debates in years, some Guild members are turning to mass communications to deliver their message. Many of us have seen flyers from one member advocating a "no" vote on the contract and e-mails from another member advocating a "yes" vote.

Both of those individuals are speaking for themselves, not for Guild leadership. For the record, the Executive Board and the Bargaining Committee both recommend a "yes" vote, although not enthusiastically. But as a democratic union, the Guild unequivocally supports the right of all of its members to voice their opinions on the issues facing our local.

To that end, we'd like to point you to the "comments" feature on this blog. If you would like to participate in the debate electronically, you can click on the "comments" link at the end of any blog entry and go from there. All we ask is that you stick to the issues; any personal attacks will be de-blogged.

Getting the maximum from the minimums

While much discussion about the proposed new contract is understandably focused on the 1.5% across-the-board raise, changes in the minimum wage scales are expected to bring larger guaranteed raises to about one-quarter of our bargaining unit. The Guild leadership estimates that nearly 70 of the approximately 270 workers covered by our contract -- ranging from part-time scoretakers to full-time Senior Journalists -- would receive raises larger than 1.5% in at least one of the contract's four years as a result of these changes, not counting discretionary or "merit" raises.

First, a quick review of how minimums work. Each job classification is divided into at least two pay steps, based on experience or seniority; journalists, editorial assistants and News Information Center workers also have "senior" classifications based on responsibility or performance. The contract sets a minimum wage for each level, and that minimum rises at the beginning of each year. Under the current contract, part-timers can be paid 80% of the applicable full-time hourly minimum for their first two years as a journalist or their first three years as a non-journalist.

Therefore, you get raises through the minimums if your pay is below the new minimum for your classification at the beginning of the year; if you move up to a higher pay step or a higher classification; or if you move up from the 80% level to 100% parity as a part-timer. In the first case, at the beginning of the year, you would get either the across-the-board raise or the amount needed to bring you up to the new minimum, whichever is greater.

What would change in the new contract? For one thing, minimums would rise by 2% in 2005 and 2006 and 2.5% in 2007 and 2008, with slightly larger increases for a few classifications. While it's normal for minimums to rise more than the rate of the across-the-board raise, and this would be a smaller bump than in most past contracts, the combined impact of unusually small across-the-board raises and smaller discretionary raises would magnify the impact of the minimum increases. The Bargaining Committee estimates that would put more than $40,000 in our members' pockets beyond what the 1.5% raises would produce.

Also, part-time minimums would rise from 80% to 90% of the full-time hourly minimum after the first year of service, a significant boost for most scoretakers and some editorial assistants. Finally, the lowest-paid classification, Messenger, would be abolished and merged into the higher-paid Clerk classification, and a change in the Senior Editorial Assistant definition has already helped one employee move up. Those changes also could amount to hundreds of dollars a year more for each of the workers affected.

What a "no" vote means

The proposed new contract has sparked a vigorous and healthy debate among the Guild's membership. One important question is what would happen if the membership votes to reject the contract.

As the Guild Bargaining Committee reported at last Monday's membership meeting, management has said that if the contract is not ratified by Dec. 31, the company would withdraw the portion of its offer dealing with retroactive pay for 2005.

If the membership votes down the contract, negotiators for both sides would return to the bargaining table. The Guild bargainers would not consider the loss of retro pay to be a given, and would fight for whatever improvements are necessary to craft a contract package that would win majority support.

However, the negotiators would not be able to win that fight alone. As our president, Jennie Tunkieicz, said at the membership meeting, success would require strong support from a united membership in a long and potentially difficult battle. In that regard, the contract vote will be a referendum not only on the merits of the contract itself, but on whether the membership supports continuing the struggle for something better.

Contract info sessions set

Guild Bargaining Committee members will conduct seven informational sessions to answer questions on the proposed new contract leading up to Thursday's ratification vote.

Contract briefings will be held at noon and 6 p.m. Monday and at noon and 6 p.m. Tuesday, all in the Deck View Conference Room on the 4th floor downtown; noon Monday in the Waukesha Bureau; and at noon and 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Training Center on the 2nd floor downtown.

That may be the most informational sessions we've ever held before a contract vote, but if you can't make any of them, please contact committee members Larry Sandler, Amy Rinard, Dave Kirner or Janine Ghelfi with your questions.

Guild members can cast their ballots in the Grant Library downtown from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. Absentee ballots are being distributed to bureau workers and to any member who won't be around on election day; contact election committee chair Bob Helbig ASAP if you need an absentee ballot.

Absentee ballots sent

Through Saturday, 34 absentee ballots have been mailed out to members, including every Guild member who works at a bureau. Anyone who won't be downtown Thursday and wants to vote should request an absentee ballot pronto from Bob Helbig.

Tentative contract agreement reached; vote scheduled for Thursday

Negotiators for the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild and Journal Sentinel Inc. reached tentative agreement on a new four-year contract today.

Guild members will vote on the deal on Thursday, Dec. 15. Downtown workers will vote in the Grant Library. Absentee ballots will be provided for bureau workers and anyone who won’t be around on that day. More details of the voting arrangements, and of information sessions to brief members on the details of the package, will be posted on the Guild’s Web site, www.milwaukeenewsguild.org, as they become available.

The Bargaining Committee and the Executive Board are unanimously, but reluctantly, recommending that members vote “yes” on a package that falls short of our goals on the biggest points, although it includes many gains on other provisions.

To read about the potential contract agreement, click here.

Urgent contract update

Negotiations have reached a crucial point. All Guild members are urged to come to Monday's membership meeting for an important discussion on where things stand and where we go from here. That's noon Monday on the second floor of Turner Hall. Lunch will be served. As usual, the meeting is open to members only.