Raise a toast to New Year's raises

You can start 2007 with a bit more cash in your paycheck, thanks to the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild contract. Effective Dec. 31, wages rose 1.5% for every bargaining-unit member who has been on the payroll at least three months. Those raises should show up on the second paycheck in January.

At the same time, minimum wage scales rose by 2.5% in most pay classifications, and by slightly more in a few classifications. (That's up from a 2% boost in most minimums in each of the first two years of the 2005-'08 contract.) Each worker receives either the across-the-board raise or an increase to the new minimum, whichever is greater.

For full-time journalists, the new minimums are $800 a week at the first step (less than 3 years in the business); $922 a week at the second step (at least 3 years experience); $1,027 a week at the third step (at least 4 years at the second step or 6 years at the Journal Sentinel); and $1,187 a week for Senior Journalists. For part-time editorial assistants, the new minimums are $12.54 an hour at the first step (less than 2 years experience) and $14.04 an hour at the second step (at least 2 years experience).

Also up are night differential, to 75 cents an hour (or $6 for an 8-hour shift), and weekend differential, to 80 cents an hour (or $6.40 for an 8-hour shift).