Deals struck on expenses, reader comments

Negotiators for the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild and Journal Sentinel Inc. have reached tentative agreement on several contract provisions during three days of bargaining this week. The agreed-upon language would:

• Expand our rights to be notified of corrections and of personal attacks. As with letters to the editor and corrections published in the Journal Sentinel, employees would receive advance notification of online corrections and negative reader comments on moderated forums. For unmoderated forums, the company would establish a system to review and discuss comments that employees consider to be unfairly disparaging.
• State that employees are expected, not just encouraged, to file expense reports and differential forms promptly, and that managers are similarly expected to process them promptly. Guild negotiators did not accept management’s original proposal to let the company refuse to pay expenses that were turned in late.
• Strengthen the Guild’s voice in recommending cafeteria improvements.

We also discussed contract language dealing with transfers, filling in for editors, overtime, evaluations, promotions, Guild jurisdiction and union-management relations.

Negotiators are in the process of scheduling August sessions. Also during August, three subcommittees from both sides plan to meet for talks on training, drug testing and positions excluded from the bargaining unit.