OUR VOICE
The Newspaper Guild -- Worcester Unit
| December 2004 |
Vacation dispute sent to arbitration, Inside Circ. Dept. dress code challenged
There are currently three active grievances, one involving allotment of vacation time, another concerning how an employee gets paid when temporarily transferred to a higher-paying position and one dealing with attempts by the company to impose a dress code.
The vacation grievance was brought by a reporter denied a fifth week of vacation despite an unbroken 25-years of working for the company. In the process of investigating the grievance, as many as 40 additional employees have been identified as possibly being eligible for more vacation than they are currently getting.
At issue is whether years in which an employee earned no vacation time because he worked less than 25 hours per week counts as "a year of continuous service" under the contract.
After two grievance meetings with human resources director Vic DiNardo, the company and Union failed to reach an agreement. But because we strongly feel that the facts and the contract language support us, the Union has filed for arbitration. An arbitration meeting date has not yet been set.
The grievance committee also took under advisement a proposal to settle a grievance where a circulation worker was given a 6-month transfer to a job with a higher wage scale. Rather than pay the worker the starting base pay, as outlined in the contract, the company instead offered a per diem differential that amounts to less than the weekly base pay. A Step 3 grievance meeting held Nov. 23 was adjourned to allow the Union and the company to review a settlement idea that, at face value, looked favorable to our position. Stay tuned.
On Nov. 30 the grievance committee held a Step 3 meeting sparked by an inside circulation department manager telling a Guild member that she could not wear jeans to work. Our position is that no formal dress code exists, and it is arbitrary to single out jeans and deem them unacceptable except on Fridays.
How much time you have off, how much you get paid and what you can wear to work are comprehensive issues, and each is concretely addressed in our contract.
If you think the contract is being violated, or that you are not receiving the pay or benefits you are entitled to, contact a Guild steward, or e-mail the Guild at png@riguild.org.
TNG/CWA Local 31041
270 Westmister St., Providence, Rhode Island 02903
401-421-9466 | Fax: 401-421-9495
png@riguild.org