Pension negotiators named

Veteran union leader Dave Kirner has been named to lead the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild's bargaining committee in negotiations on recent Journal Communications retirement changes.

Kirner, a photo technician, is a Guild board member and former president, as well as a former leader of our sister Communications Workers of America local in the composing room. He will be joined at the bargaining table by our 1st vice president, day copy editor Greg Pearson, and by steward leader and board member Jerry Ziegler, an assistant copy desk chief.

The company has said veteran employees will have a choice between staying in the current pension system or freezing their pension benefits at current levels and taking a 3% employer contribution to their 401(k) accounts, but newly hired full-timers will have only the 401(k). It's not clear how the plan affects new or less-senior part-timers. The Guild argues that such major changes must be negotiated with the union.