Wage cut approved, 86-46

The Milwaukee Newspaper Guild voted Thursday to approve a 6.6% pay cut for the 191 Journal Sentinel Inc. employees it represents. The decision averts the layoff of 20 or more workers in our bargaining unit, which includes journalists and support staff in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newsroom and JSOnline.

Guild members approved the pay cut by an 86-46 vote. That vote came after several weeks of talks with the company, which told union negotiators in March that it needed to trim $1.2 million from the Guild-represented payroll portion of the newsroom budget.

At the Guild’s request, the company first offered a voluntary buyout, which resulted in nine employees — six full-timers and three part-timers — accepting the buyout proposal.

After two days of negotiations earlier this month, Guild bargainers agreed to present to our membership a proposal for a 6.6% pay cut that will extend until at least May 2010. In exchange, each member of our unit will receive 10 personal days for the remainder of 2009, and the company will not lay off anyone in our unit through Sept. 30.

Every element of this deal — the wage cut, the personal days and the no-layoff guarantee — was unprecedented. And it was the first time we voted on an agreement with the threat of layoffs hanging over our heads.

This was a very difficult choice for our union, largely because the job security guarantee was so limited. Many members voted “no” because the company refused to guarantee that it wouldn’t just take our pay cut and then turn around and lay off as many people in October as it would have let go in May. But the majority voted “yes” because they believed it was important to protect not only our colleagues' jobs but the high quality of our newspaper.

The most recent round of buyouts was the third offered to Journal Sentinel newsroom employees in less than two years. With those buyouts and the layoffs of the staff of the now-defunct MKE youth-oriented weekly, our local has lost about 55 of the employees that it represented. Our members believed that further reductions would only weaken the paper.

We hope that Journal Sentinel management understands that the Guild has made some significant sacrifices in the interest of our paper's health. We call on them to take those sacrifices into account, and to bargain in good faith with us, without seeking further concessions, as we resume our long-delayed contract talks.

Wage cut vote set for April 23

For the first time in the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild’s history, members will vote on whether to cut their own wages, in exchange for limited protection against layoffs.

The plan comes to the membership with no recommendation from either the local's Bargaining Committee or our Executive Board, after two days of very difficult negotiations. If the membership votes the plan down in balloting next week, Journal Sentinel Inc. negotiators say the company will proceed immediately with involuntary job cuts.

Terms of the package are as follows:

• Effective May 3, wages for all members of our bargaining unit will be reduced by approximately 6.6%.
• The wage cuts will expire May 2, 2010, or when the non-represented Journal Sentinel staff’s 6% wage cuts expire, whichever is later. If the company partially restores wages for non-represented staff, it will do the same for us.
• All full-time employees will receive 10 personal days in 2009, on the same terms as the non-represented staff. Part-time employees will receive a proportional number of personal days. In 2010, we would receive the same number of personal days as the non-represented staff, if any.
• The company will not lay off any members of our bargaining unit through Sept. 30 of this year.
• These wage cuts will not apply to anyone who took the recent buyout.

The talks earlier this week followed the buyout, which attracted only nine employees, almost all from the copy desk, graphics/design and editorial assistant ranks. Guild negotiators had warned that the buyout terms were not generous enough to draw the numbers needed to meet the company's $1.2 million newsroom payroll reduction target and avoid layoffs. The combined wages of the departing staffers totaled $436,800, leaving us $763,200 short.

Management representatives then rejected a Guild proposal to close the gap through unpaid furloughs. They also refused to accept a 6% wage cut, because it would have left us about $73,000 short of their target. They refused to agree to a definitive date to end the cuts. They refused to extend the no-layoff guarantee to the end of this year. They refused to guarantee that we would get any personal days in 2010. And they refused to even discuss structuring the wage cut in some way that would ease the burden on the lowest-paid members of the staff.

Guild negotiators briefed members on the package at a membership meeting Wednesday. Voting will be scheduled 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. next Thursday, April 23. Details of the balloting and absentee-ballot procedures will be distributed to members.

Layoffs, job cuts don’t touch newsroom — yet; Guild meeting April 15 on what’s ahead

None of the 31 jobs eliminated at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in recent days came from the newsroom. Nor were workers represented by the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild affected by the 6% wage cut imposed on most other Journal Sentinel employees.

That doesn’t mean we’re immune to cutbacks. We’re just proceeding on a different track, starting with a buyout offer that remains open through this week. But tough choices could be ahead in bargaining next week, and the Guild has called an April 15 membership meeting to discuss what comes out of those talks.

On Monday, Journal Sentinel Publisher Betsy Brenner announced 26 full-time and five part-time workers had been downsized. Guild leaders believe these jobs came from advertising, circulation, marketing and possibly other departments.

That followed Journal Communications CEO Steve Smith’s announcement Thursday that most company employees, including newsroom managers, would receive 6% pay cuts in exchange for 10 additional paid days off. The wage cuts did not apply to workers covered by either a union contract or, in the case of broadcasters, a personal contract.

In our case, management representatives told Guild negotiators last month that the company wanted to cut $1.2 million in annual payroll costs from our bargaining unit, about a 10% reduction. To avoid layoffs, the Guild asked the company to offer a voluntary buyout and then negotiate on unpaid furloughs.

The buyout window opened last week and remains open until Friday. Depending on wage levels and part-time or full-time status, up to 24 people would have to leave to meet the target through buyouts alone; that number could be 18 or less if some higher-paid full-timers are among those taking the buyout. As far as we know, buyouts are not being offered to newsroom managers or anyone else not represented by the Guild.

Once we know who has been accepted for the buyout, and what their wages add up to, we will return to the bargaining table April 13-14. The company has signaled it is unenthusiastic about furloughs and is likely to push for cuts in base wages. But furloughs remain on the table for discussion. Management representatives have said involuntary job cuts could begin in May if a deal is not in place by the end of April.

After this round of negotiations, Guild members will discuss the outcome in a brown-bag luncheon session at noon April 15 in the company’s second-floor training center. Any deal that results from the talks will be submitted to the membership for a vote, but that vote will not come at this meeting. As in the past, the union will arrange for members to vote later by secret ballot.

Deadline is April 10 for latest buyout

Milwaukee Newspaper Guild leaders are working to ensure that Journal Sentinel newsroom employees have complete information about the company's latest buyout offer before the April 10 deadline.

On Wednesday, the company presented the buyout package to our bargaining unit. The buyout is open to both full-timers and part-timers and offers two weeks of severance pay for each year of service — but capped at 15 years of service, or 30 weeks pay (i.e., those with more seniority can take the buyout but wouldn’t get any more than 30 weeks’ pay). The company will provide two months of health insurance, but no additional cash incentives and no outplacement aid. Payments will be in two-week installments, not a lump sum.

Guild negotiators sought Tuesday evening to improve those terms, by raising the cap, but the company's bargaining team refused.

As we have reported previously, all of this is based on the company’s push to save $1.2 million in bargaining-unit payroll costs, as part of $5 million in cuts throughout the company. Once we know how many people have taken the buyout, we will return to the bargaining table April 13-14 to discuss other measures, such as unpaid furloughs and wage cuts, to reach the target without involuntary job cuts.

Here’s how the latest buyout differs from those in the past: (1) No previous buyout has ever been capped. (2) Additional cash or outplacement aid was part of some previous buyouts. (3) The last two buyouts were not open to part-timers. (4) Previous severance payments came in a lump sum.

Here’s how the buyout terms differ from our contract's involuntary downsizing terms: (1) If you are downsized, you get two weeks of pay for each year of service, with no cap. (2) Anyone pushed out in a reduction in force is also entitled to 60 days’ notice or 60 days’ pay. (3) The contract does not require the company to pay any health insurance if you’re downsized, but you do get some kind of outplacement aid.

The contract calls for involuntary job cuts to be based on reverse seniority, with some exceptions, such as to maintain diversity and special skills. The Guild's view is that seniority is the first consideration and the company must justify each deviation from seniority.

As in previous buyouts, the Guild will distribute information answering frequently asked questions about the details of the offer and how it applies to various situations.

Anyone who is considering the buyout should keep in touch with Guild President Greg Pearson. Please let him know whether you are considering the buyout, whether you have actually applied, whether you were accepted and whether you were rejected. Your names will be kept confidential.