• Tentative Agreement Reached in BNA Contract Talks
• BNA Salary Scales Under Tentative Agreement
• BNA Contract Mobilization Scrapbook

March 3, 2003

Tentative Agreement Reached On BNA Contract

The Guild Bargaining Committee recommends ratification of the following tentative agreement for a three-year contract (through February 2006) reached on February 27, 2003. The substantive changes are as follows:

Wages and Economics:

• The wage scale (above) increases 3% in each year of the contract

• Annual salary increases in each year of the 3-year contract:
  Band A 6%
  Band B 5%
  Band C 3.5%
  Band D 2.25%

• All employees will receive the entire annual increase for their band. Any employees who may be deemed to have performed unsatisfactorily will have the performance issue addressed separately from the pay increase.
  
• Any employee not at the minimum of the band will have salary increased to bring them to the minimum of the band.

• Employees currently in the steps will receive 1.75% increase effective March 9, 2003, and the balance of their band for that year on their anniversary date.
  
• Employees currently red-circled will receive their ENTIRE band increase effective March 9, 2003. Their anniversary date will become March 9.
  
• A new grade 11 will become effective on February 29, 2004. The Guild and BNA will negotiate the job titles to be placed in the new grade (Grade 11 salary range is $58,000- $87,000).
  
• Merit pay, when paid, is 3% of salary for employees in Bands A-C, and 2% of salary for employee in Band D.
  
• Employees promoted to a higher-grade job will receive a promotional increase that is the greater than the amount necessary to bring the salary to the minimum of the band, or 4.25%.

Metro and Parking Subsidy

• Effective January 1, 2004, Metro subsidy of $70/ten times a year, and parking subsidy of $58.33/twelve times a year, plus the establishment of a flexible spending account for work-related parking expenses.

Health Care
Effective January 1, 2004:

• Retail prescription drug co-pays:
  $ 5 Generic medication
  $ 15 Brand name medication when there is no generic equivalent
  $ 20 Brand name medication when there is a generic equivalent

• Effective with the third month’s supply of a maintenance medication dispensed at a retail pharmacy, the co-payment shall double.

• Effective January 1, 2004, the co-payments for prescription drugs via mail order shall be as follows for a supply of up to 90 days’ medication:
  $10 generic medication
  $25 Brand name medication when there is no generic equivalent
  $35 Brand name medication when there is a generic equivalent

• Effective January 1, 2004, the co-payment/office visit to a network provider under the PPO medical plan is $15.
  
• Effective January 1, 2004, the annual deductible for non-network care under the PPO medical plan shall be $ 375 per individual, to a maximum of $1125.00 per family. The annual out-of-pocket co-payment maximum for non-network care under the PPO medical plan shall be 3% of base salary as of January 1, to a maximum of 6 % per family.

• Effective January 1, 2004, the co-payment for network dental care shall be 20%.
  
• Effective January 1, 2004, the employee deductible for all non-network dental care under the dental plan shall be $250 per individual. The employee co-payment for non-network dental care other than orthodontia and preventive check-up is 25%.

• The Joint Health Care committee is retained.

Paid Leave

• Effective January 1, 2004, an employee may take up to 10 days of accumulated sick leave to care for a spouse, parent, or one acting as a parent, or co-habitating life partner, provided that FMLA certification is provided by the employee and said relative.

• Effective January 1, 2004, FMLA leave shall be determined on a rolling calendar basis rather than a 12-month calendar year.

Temporary Positions

• Temporary positions will be filled first by employees electing alternative work assignments, employees on the rehire list, temporary transfers, and, last, external hires;

• Temporary employees may be hired to assist in the startup or shutdown of a publication. The start up or shut down period is limited to 9 months unless extended by mutual agreement with the Guild. At the end of this period, internal temporary transfers may be made permanent in the new position or returned to the position previously occupied. Temporary positions made permanent after the startup period are exempt from posting only if the positions are immediately filled by the internal temporary transfer employee in the position.
  
• A temporary employee who has become or becomes a regular employee without a break in service shall have her date of employment her date of hire date as a temporary employee.

Job Security

• Provides RIF notice to Guild unit chair is in writing.

• The employee in position subject to RIF shall be given the opportunity to resign prior to the consideration of another employee’s interest in voluntary resignation. If the affected employee does not accept the RIF, BNA shall accept voluntary resignations from employees in the classifications affected in the section in which the RIF is occurring.

• Creates company-wide voluntary resignation (VR) list: if there are insufficient voluntary resignations from the section in which the RIF is occurring, the VR list kicks in before any employee is involuntarily severed

• An employee interested in voluntary resignation when a RIF is necessary may put her or his name on a VR list by notifying HR in advance in person or by certified mail. This information will remain confidential except as needed to actually implement voluntary resignation procedures.

• An employee may remove her or his name from the list by written notice personally delivered to HR or by written notice by certified mail to HR.

• The publisher may accept voluntary resignations from the list at the time of a RIF (but is not required to do so). An employee selected from the list has two working days to revoke voluntary resignation; otherwise it goes into effect and is irrevocable.

• An employee accepting voluntary resignation from the VR list receives severance benefits pursuant to Article XXIII, section 1.

• The employee originally subject to RIF cannot be riffed where the number of voluntary resignations is equal to or exceeds the number of positions identified to the unit chair for RIF at the beginning of the RIF process.

• Employees subject to RIF who are not placed in permanent positions may elect to accept alternative work assignments. Such assignments will be non-intermittent. The employee will be considered to be in callback status and retain the rights of a dismissed employee on the rehire list.

• Employees bumped to a lower grade in RIF shall be receive the same salary in the new grade. If the employee was in grade D of his/her prior grade, the new salary will be the minimum of Band D of the new grade plus what ever the employee was being paid above his/her prior Band D. An employee bumped or accepting a position more than two grades lower will have no reduction in pay for 12 months.

• Employees on the re-hire list have the right to access in-house training on a space-available basis.

Union Rights

• Provides that the Guild will take over the scheduling of new employee orientation including notifying HR of the date and time of orientation.

Holidays

• Provides that IT employees can be required to work on a holiday without three days notice, and that such employees may elect to be paid for that week at regular salary plus three-tenths of that amount OR have hours worked credited to annual leave at the same holiday pay rate
  
• Provides that non-IT employees required to work still shall have the request made to work by the Publisher 3 days in advance of the holiday on a listed holiday may elect to be paid for that week at regular salary plus three-tenths of that amount OR have hours worked credited to annual leave at the same holiday pay rate
  
• Provides that BNA, at its discretion, may allow employees in the home office to work on Presidents’ Day, Columbus Day, and/or the Day After Thanksgiving, and for the Rockville office to work on Presidents’ Day, Columbus Day, and/or Veterans’ Day

  Employees may voluntarily elect to work these holidays’ when BNA elects to keep the business open on these holidays in exchange for one more day of annual leave, to be taken in accordance with annual leave scheduling procedures of the respective department in which the employee works. No employee shall be required to exchange any holiday for annual leave, and any employee required to work on a holiday will be paid in accordance with holiday pay requirements under this contract.

Other

• The company will post no fewer than three junior trainee level positions during the term of the contract.

• Existing sabbatical contract language is retained.

• The testing committee is retained.

BNA Salary Scales Under Tentative Agreement

BNA Contract Mobilization Scrapbook
Guild members listen to a presentation of union contract proposals at Nov. 1, 2002 meeting.	Guild Unit Chair Reza Namdar (seated) and Local 32035 Administrative Officer Lori Calderone (right) present union contract proposals at Nov. 1, 2002 meeting at BNA Washington.
Guild Unit Chair Reza Namdar addresses Feb. 13, 2003 rally at BNA's 25th Street headquarters.	Member John Sullivan tells management: "Have a heart!"
Mona Miller urges management to "Give us a real raise."	Guild Unit Secretary Harrietta Kelly on the line.
(left to right) Guild Local 32035 Secretary Carol Oberdorfer, Local 32035 Executive Council delegate Michelle Amber, and member Bruce Kaufman demand a pay raise.	Guild Unit Vice Chair Gwen Holmes and Local 32035 Executive Council delegate Dennis Lewis cheer the Guild on.

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