Providence Newspaper Guild - Bargaining Bulletin

Contract 2000

Guild Bargaining Bulletin #10

ProJo Remains Stubborn; Contract Extended

The company again demonstrated its intransigence Wednesday (Dec. 29) by agreeing to a meager 47-cent per day increase in the minimum small grid payment. This was the company's sole response to over 20 changes to the Guild proposal made Tuesday by your bargaining team.

The Guild then requested the intervention of a federal mediator to keep negotiations on track. Major issues unaddressed by the company are pension and 401k improvements, and pre-publishing department problems.

The company reiterated its plan to impose a series of contract changes effective Saturday. These include:

* Eliminating parking: "Effective Jan. 1, 2000, there will be no free or discounted parking for members of your bargaining unit under current contract Article 19, sections 3 e, g, h, or i," said a letter to the Guild from ProJo H.R. Manager Tom McDonough.

* Taking away one personal day: "Delete one of the two optional holidays," says the company's statement.

* Making employees wait an extra two years for a third week of vacation: This affects everyone who received less than three weeks of vacation in 1999.

* Increasing the costs of medical and dental insurance: The company is removing the cost cap, which limited premium cost sharing to 15 percent of the previous year's premium. Under the company plan, employees will pay 15 percent of the current year's cost.

* Changing the available medical and dental plans: The company is moving all Guild covered employees into new medical and dental plans, eliminating Blue Cross and Delta Dental.

* Making new hires wait an extra two months before becoming eligible for medical insurance: Everyone hired after Jan. 1, 2000 will be required to wait an additional two months.

* No wage increases: Despite these takebacks, the company is refusing to provide any wage increases. They have dangled a modest 2 percent annual wage increase, but that would not kick in unless the Guild knuckles under.

The one point of progress that occurred Wednesday was agreement on a one-month contract extension. The company agreed that the extension would not waive or limit the Guild's legal challenges to the illegal contract changes.

The next negotiating sessions are set for Jan. 11, 17, 21 and 24.

The Guild's proposal is available on-line at the PNG web site:

Guild proposals.

Company proposals.

Tentative Agreements

Previous Bargaining Bulletins

Arbitrator Issues ProJo a Parking Violation

An Arbitrator ruled the Company violated the contract when it shut Guild members out of the Parkade garage (also known as the Biltmore Garage) beginning in early 1998. The decision was received by the Guild Wednesday.

The decision does not have an immediate impact on the Journal's announcement that it would no longer provide parking under the contract. In fact, the company's recent actions appear to be an effort to circumvent the ruling, which had not been expected until Jan. 10.

Arbitrator Tim Bornstein stated: "The company violated article 19 when the Parkade Parking Garage consistently refused to provide parking to those bargaining unit employees who bought discount parking passes. This conclusion is based on the contract's plain meaning and is reinforced by the parties' uncontroverted practice."

"It makes no sense, however, to assume that (the contract) was intended to mean that employees could pay $4 a day for a pass that assured no parking at all," Bornstein said. "Without consistently available parking, this clause provides no benefit to employees and is little more than an annoying penalty for those who have purchased passes for $4."

The arbitrator ordered the company to pay employees for the costs of parking and passes they could not use.