The latest newsletter

You’ve reached the Web home of Indianapolis Newspaper Guild Local No. 70.

MARCH 29, 2008 * INKLING
In this issue: Indy’s vote counts in the national Guild election * The Guild gets a big win — and works to protect numerous assaults against the Contract * New Guild union cards are on their way! * We throw a party for two newsroom employees now in Iraq * Vic goes to D.C. for training * Treasurer’s report *

 

NATIONAL REPORT

We’re holding an election! All locals that are affiliated with the Communications Workers of America/The Newspaper Guild (we are Indianapolis Newspaper Guild Local No. 34070) are REQUIRED to help the national board with the NATIONAL election. As you may have heard, there is an actual competition for the top jobs (based in Washington DC). Linda Foley is running as president for re-election against Bernie Lunzer, the secretary-treasurer. You may have seen emails or literature about the race. You might even ask, is the Indianapolis Guild going to endorse any of the candidates? The answer is NO! Although a member of the Foley team (Scott Stephens) was kind enough to drive down from Cleveland to meet with the Guild, we believe both candidates are quality opponents and that either one has shown the ability to effectively to lead the organization and deal with national issues but still deliver help to “locals” like ours when needed. ALL DUESPAYERS will be asked to cast a vote, and you can get up to speed on each of the candidates by going to each of their respective Web sites. Although the Indy Guild’s executive team chose not to have an endorsement, please let us know if you think either Linda or Bernie is head and shoulders above the other. Your Indy News Guild will forward important information on behalf of the candidates as it is relayed to us, but IF YOU WANT TO GET ON E-MAIL LISTS FOR BERNIE OR LINDA’S TEAM SIMPLY SEND A NOTE TO: timschick@cox.net for “A Stronger Guild” (Lunzer’s team) or stevenyount@worldnet.att.net for “Team Guild” (Foley’s team). Websites are http://www.teamguild.org and http://www.astrongerguild.org/home.html, respectively.

.… And speaking of that election: The date for our next membership meeting will be Tuesday, April 29 at noon, at the Musicians Hall, 325 N. Delaware St. Guild dues-payers who want to vote may do so then, or may request an absentee ballot. The Guild will rent a PO box for receiving absentee ballots, and the box will only be opened once, on April 30. Any guild member may vote absentee, but all votes must be recieved by April 30, which is the day the votes will be counted.

 

INDY REPORT — SERIOUS ISSUES WITH STAR MANAGEMENT!

Defending the contract, part 1: In early March the Guild filed an official Grievance with management on a dangerous new trend reported to us by union steward Geoff Ooley - the use of the “casual” or “on-call” employee. The company wanted to have a cadre of on-call employees to fill in during busy periods, heavy vacation seasons, when someone suddenly becomes sick and so on. Problem was, there is no such thing as a “casual” or “on-call” employee listed in the Contract, which describes work under the jurisdiction of the Guild. Such a category would threaten every job in the newsroom - this company, and many others in America, would have everybody on call, or everybody as an independent contractor, if it could get away with it. But this is not the car wash - you can’t tell people to go home if there’s no work that day, or expect people to sit by the phone all day hoping to be called to work. Guess what? We won! The company withdrew its proposal for casual or on-call employees. The Contract already provides a liberal policy of part-time and temporary employees to help the company through tough staffing times. Tell your friends who aren’t members of the Guild that they should reconsider joining - it is only because we have good stewards, and a good executive committee willing to actually file a Grievance (and, if necessary, a binding arbitration demand) that we can hold the line on basic labor rights.

Defending the contract, part 2: Paraprofessionals. On Friday, March 14, The Guild filed notification of intent to arbitrate a grievance in the matter of a North Bureau paraprofessional who long has been doing reporter work. This is an extremely important case. We believe the company is looking to have lower-paid employees do work that contractually belongs to higher-paid employees, and it is trying to cope with staffing shortages by using paraprofressionals, too. The Guild negotiated this grievance over several months in good faith, but to no avail. The next step, therefore, is arbitration, which is “binding,” meaning we don’t have to count on the good will of management for a just and fair outcome. (By contract, we were obligated to file a grievance first and go through that process before taking it to the next step, which is arbitration.) Management is the sole judge of merit in a grievance procedure, which doesn’t sound encouraging, but we’ve had some good outcomes in the past. Not this time, however. An arbitration procedure is time-consuming and costly - this is where some of your money goes. We’ll keep you posted.

 

Defending the contract, part 3: Cell phones. The Guild filed a grievance Dec. 6, 2007 following word that the company, in a cost-cutting move, had taken away numerous employee-provided cell phones from reporters who have had them for a long time. They also ended a $30-a-month subsidy for other employees who use a personal cell phone. We understand the company wants to save money, but communication devices are perhaps the most important tool (next to a computer) that a news-gatherer employs. After a considerable amount of time spent by Guild officers investigating the issue (Vice President Vic Ryckaert assembled cell-phone policies from newspapers across the country) and discussion between Guild officers and the company, both Editor Dennis Ryerson and HR’s James Keough agreed with us in principle that employees have to be subsidized. They are looking at Gannett policies across the country at larger properties and promise to get back to us soon.In the meantime, the company asked the Guild for its proposed solution. One tentative plan is that,
like mileage in a car, is that every minute a reporter can document he/she used their personal phone
for company business will be reimbursed at a to-be-negotiated standard rate. LET US KNOW
at indynewsguild70@gmail.com if you’ve got a good “win-win” solution to this problem!Defending the contract, part 4: Freedom of information: Your Guild is bothered by the fact that our requests for 2006 AND 2007 wage information from the company has been delayed and delayed and delayed. Through the good efforts of Guild secretary Sylvia Halladay we asked HR for this information in order to enforce the contract. We analyzed data back in 2005 and discovered the company UNDERPAID its promised merit pool, and after a debate with them, they SPLIT AMONG ALL OF YOU some $37,600 - all thanks to the Guild work on your behalf!

Defending the contract, part 5: Freelancing. Before Gannett bought the Star several years ago (and during early 1990s contract negotiations) officers fiercely defended the right for staff to freelance as long as it wasn’t for a competitor and as long as the publication wasn’t of disreputable nature. The article simply had to be offered to the Star first – which has right of first refusal (as outlined in Article XVI of the contract). We inquired on behalf of a Guild member who wanted to freelance for a Gannett sister publication in Louisville, but was rejected (by management in Indy) due to a conflict over compensation. Doesn’t make sense to us for all of our creative types to be barred from helping out the chain and instead have to freelance for a non-Gannett entity, but that’s the message we’re passing on to our membership! Remember, though, give your bosses a head’s up first and involve us if you run into any problems.

HELPING OUT MEMBERS EVERY DAY!

Cards coming: Although our distribution list for the e-inkling is over 200 strong, over about half of you will be receiving union cards with the printed version. The Guild has periodically issued cards, last in 2005; turnover in our membership necessitates we issue a new batch, a gesture to our loyal dues-paying members. All you have to do is sign up for the union to receive one!

A unique collaboration: As we all know too well, when there’s a group gathering by the main newsroom photo desk and it involves Publisher Barbara Henry and top editors AND a sheet cake, that’s usually not a good thing. Well, it was on March 10, when in a unique collaboration, your Guild partnered with the Star to have a sendoff to photographer Bob Scheer and reporter Will Higgins who are headed off to Iraq for roughly a 6-week assignment following the Indiana National Guard. It’s exciting, dangerous but lonely work being that far from home. Thanks to treasurer Tom Spalding and non-Guild members Pam Fine, Keith Manring and Kelly Kendall (who came up with the clever idea to do dog tags as ways to show visual support during our colleagues’ absence!)

Welcome kits in action: Your Guild welcomed four new employees to the Star in January. Greetings to Jonathan Boho, Joey Marburger, Konrad Marshall and Nina Mehta - they are all based Downtown. The fact our company is hiring, even in limited batches, is promising, and your Guild continues to stress to management that there’s a chronic staff shortage, and that shortage has a negative impact as the demand for more content creates stress among us coworkers. So welcome Jon, Joey, Konrad and Nina and let us know how we can make your stay more comfortable!

Down to Greenwood: Guild officers Tom Spalding and Vic Ryckaert took several staffers down in Star South to lunch recently to get their take on current topics of interest to the Guild. We’ve done the same up north and try to always meet in small groups anywhere in the empire. If your group wants a visit from any of us just ask!

 

The reason we ask for your non-Star e-mail just got validated: In no surprise move, the National Labor Relations Board in late December 2007 cast a vote that makes it a lot easier for companies to ban union members from using their employers’ e-mail systems to “recruit.” This is why we send email to you at your “non-Star” email account from indynewsguild70@gmail.com. We add new employees to the list regularly, so if you are getting this email forwarded to you, drop us a line and we’ll add you!

Have you moved in the last year? Please update the Guild with your new home address, either by telling an officer or steward, or by dropping us a line at indynewsguild70@gmail.com.

Helping out a departing coworker, part 1: Niko Pryor. The building services employee has been on medical leave for many months. Pryor called Guild vice president DuJuan Carpenter Sr. to tell him that she’d been released from her doctor to return to work. But her job was filled by the company. At DuJuan’s urging, HR was notified to get benefits started, as she qualifies for severance under article 5, section 1 of the contract if they can’t find a job for her within 30 days from Feb. 4, 2008. Pryor is to receive a letter of separation, in which all parties, management and union would receive a copy. We firmly believe that getting Niko either a different job at the Star or severance is a guild accomplishment; without DuJuan’s staying on top of the company, we believe it looks a lot like Niko’s severance would have just kind of been forgotten about.

Helping out a departed coworker, part 2: Rishawn Biddle. As most of you know, editorial writer Rishawn Biddle was fired under difficult circumstances. As per the contract, we officially grieved his dismissal with management, contending he should have received less strict discipline, and if the company would not reverse its termination to at least allow him to offer severance. Many officers’ hours were spent back and forth between Rishawn and Star human resources, and the two parties eventually agreed to a compromise - he will get his personnel file, which is a BIG deal for a still-promising journalist to get on with his career AND the company agreed to not contest his State of Indiana unemployment benefits, which it had intended to do which was its right, as the company was claiming RiShawn was fired for “just cause.” The Guild wants to note that Biddle was covered by the Guild but never paid dues. The reality is that we are all one mistake or one bad manager away from needing the Guild’s help, so keep that in mind if you aren’t a duespayer but have long considered it. Thanks to Guild president Abe Aamidor, who generally leads the grievances and arbitrations and took the lead on this very public matter.

Vacation requests! Per the contract seniority rules regarding the ability to schedule vacations. But after April 1, it’s first-come, first-served. And supervisors, per the contract, have 2 WEEKS to approve or deny a vacation request. LET A GUILD OFFICER KNOW if you aren’t getting a timely response. Our efforts in ‘07 helped a number of staffers get the days they wanted.

KEEPING YOUR GUILD PROFESSIONAL

Bylaws pass! On Jan. 25, the votes were counted by officers Sylvia Halladay and Abe Aamidor. Twenty-four of you who are duespayers voted in favor of the new bylaws, and nobody voted against. These bylaws are not just some historic relic - they’re now something that we can fall back on, as a way to do things, if this batch of officers or our successors ever have some really serious disagreement on how things should be done. Jan. 18, 2008 will go down as an important footnote – the first new bylaws since 1971! Check them out on our website, http://einkling.wordpress.com/bylaws/

We’re watching here, too: Gannett’s 10-paper Wisconsin Newspapers group is considering a plan under which copy and pagination work would be merged into a regional operation, likely resulting in “significant” job cuts, an internal company document shows. Publishers discussed the idea at a meeting that addressed several topics — including consolidating work in the form of a regional copy desk. That is one of many facts from http://www.gannettblog.blogspot.com/ which should be required reading for ALL employees! The Guild CANNOT stop layoffs, let’s be clear, but we have the power to ask questions as a unified voice and as this Inkling details, we do a LOT of day to day stuff to keep the walls from caving in!

Stewards keep us informed: The guild never would have been able to file a grievance quickly on casual employees without knowing about it, and if Geoff Ooley hadn’t been a steward and hadn’t alerted us about that, there probably would have been a lot more casual employees before such a grievance was filed. And there was no posting to the entire newsroom email list about James Yee’s heart attack, and the guild couldn’t have sent flowers without knowing it from steward Robert Annis. Do you want to be a steward? It’s free, easy, and we’ll train you!

Treasurer’s report: Your Guild, as promised, now has a budget, kept on an Excel spreadsheet. It’s yours to inspect at any time, and a summary of what we’re receiving and spending is available any time by contacting treasurer Spalding. We track what we make and what we spend down to the penny, including Chase bank statements about our 3 CDs in addition to our checking account. TAXES … The Guild executive team (the officers) voted again to hire accountant Marc Gillium of Fishers to take care of our 2007 federal income tax and our quarterly Indiana Department of Workforce Development quarterly report. We won’t owe or pay much to the government because no officer gets paid any stipend or salary. OUR FISCAL YEAR is now going to be like many companies, from a July-to-July calendar instead of by the traditional year.

Vic goes to D.C.! In mid-January, Guild vice president Vic Ryckaert traveled to the “labor school” in Silver Spring, M.D., a suburb of Washington, DC, to receive Guild new officer training (membership elected Vic and DuJuan Carpenter Sr. to be Indy News Guild vice presidents last July, a three-year stint in office). Experts in labor relations taught Vic about bookkeeping, negotiating, and how to inspire all of his coworkers to support the idea of a Guild.

300 days and counting … Til our three-year contact covering 2005-2008 unofficially ends. Don’t worry – an evergreen clause extends guarantees in the contract beyond the “expiration” date of Dec. 31 if we don’t have a successor contract completed by then.

 

FSA Deadline looms: The Flexible Spending Account reimbursement deadline for 2007 health care and dependent care expenses is March 31. That’s Monday. If you don’t file by then, you lose the money. Forms are available in Human Resources (Sixth Floor) or online at:
https://member.fiservhealthservices.com/portal