AFL-CIO Bulletin: 06/13/00

May 5, 2000

AFL-CIO CONTRACT 2000
Bargaining Resumes Tuesday

Bargaining resumes Tuesday May 9, with a host of open issues, some as yet unresponded to by the AFL-CIO. And, with the rescheduling of the field mobilization department meeting from one really busy time to another really really busy time (just after Labor Day at the traditional start of the presidential election season) the federation deftly avoided confronting any concerted activity by Guild members over outstanding issues--and robbed itself of an important opportunity to itself take the pulse of the bargaining unit on issues such as:

Wages: The federation is attached to its 3% mark, a figure that does not even keep pace with the cost of living. The CPI for March ‘00 over March 99 is 3.7%.

Pension: The federation has rejected the Guild's proposal of 50/75 with no penalty, saying it had "no interest" in this proposal and that it was "not about money but defensible employment policies."

Health care: The federation’s efforts to contain costs as well as to seek a means to remind employee’s to pay attention to their health expenditures sounds much like some other companies we are up against. The federation claims that it does not desire to pass the cost of health care on to employees, but its $15 co-pay on name brands for which there is no generic penalizes our employees for government patent protections, which put billions into the pockets of the drug companies. At an informational meeting on 4/24, the federation told the Guild that our members could afford this co-pay at our salary range. Hmmm. AFL-CIO Guild salaries range from the $30,000s to the $90,000s, and of course non-Guild employees would be affected as well. Many Guild members have reported name brand co-pay changes will cost them $1000 or more annually out of pocket. The Guild recognizes, however, the need for cost containment, and proposed modest plan changes overall to help the federation with its cost control issues. But we can’t accept the astronomical prescription increases that target the most vulnerable employees.

Expenses and Transportation: The federation has been unresponsive to changes in the expense article, including the provision of the first set of tires for field staff using their own cars. Field staff who lease cars have the cost of new tires picked up by the federation. Current language requires the employee to pay for the first set of tires, but also requires the employee to replace the car after 30 months or 75,000 miles. The result is that the field staff member is always buying first sets of tires! In the context of other federation travel expenditures, the reimbursement for the cost of tires for field staff is easily defensible.

Project and Temporary Employees: The federation made major movement on project and temporary employees’ working conditions at the last session, and added Guild coverage to "fund" employees paid from the mobilizing and membership funds. WAY TO GO V@W2!!! We'll revisit this on Tuesday, since the federation remains opposed to union coverage for interns, and Center for Working Capital employees (who are "afforded" the terms of the contract but are not in the unit. huh?). The federation also opposed allowing project, temporary and fund employees access to the grievance/arbitration procedure and the just cause standard for discipline and discharge. No rational was provided for resistance on these two pillars of the American labor movement. The federation also wishes to exempt these employees from comp time provisions, but does agree that their car expenses will be covered by the monthly car allowance, currently valued at $595/month. The federation also agreed to drop the current pay cap at grade VII for Temporary Recruiters.

Paid Time Off: The federation has agreed to increase family medical leave days to 6, but has not agreed to allow employees to donate that time to others who may need it. Mr. Welsh said such a provision is not needed when there is unlimited sick leave. He apparently has not been informed that unit members receive notices advising them when they have hit a 10 day sick leave use mark, and that the sick leave is for use only for the employee’s illness or injury, and not for children or family members.

The federation has not responded at all to the Guild’s proposal for an increase in compensatory leave days from 8 to 12 days or the provision of a compensatory day for Sunday work. When provided with the results of the Guild survey, which demonstrated the extent of weekend work, Mr. Welsh indicated that their records did not reflect our findings. The federation has not yet provided the Guild with their data on weekend work.

The Guild will press on during the Tuesday session to meet the priorities of our membership. Many thanks to our members who have shown Guild solidarity by wearing buttons and stickers, signing petitions, and providing information. We feel truly disappointed that we will not be meeting together next week as planned at the retreat. But our inability to come together geographically has not and will never stop our commitment to act in solidarity on behalf of the entire unit, from Maine to California!

And, welcome to the Guild, seventeen new "project, temporary, and fund" union members!

WE’RE WORKING FAMILIES, TOO!!

Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild

Local 32035 TNG-CWA, AFL-CIO

202-785-3650/202-785-3659 (fax)

AFL-CIO - Guild News

AFL-CIO CONTRACT 2000 Bargaining Resumes Tuesday

AFL-CIO CONTRACT 2000
Bargaining Resumes Tuesday