Washington Post - Guild News

Sept. 10, 2001

Contract Education Federal Law and Union Contract Govern Overtime Pay
Guild Grievances Protect Post Employees' Rights, Safety
Contract's Final Pay Increase Kicks In

 

Contract Education

Federal Law and Union Contract Govern Overtime Pay

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) [this link will open a new window at NOLO Online Legal Encyclopedia. When done, merely close the window to return here] and the Guild contract together govern Post worker's right to earn time and a half overtime pay.

The FLSA requires pay for hours over 40 in a workweek to all employees, unless exempted from the Act (permitting the employer to exempt the employee from time and a half pay). The Guild contract requires time and a half for "all hours actually worked over 40 hours in a single work week". "Hours worked" includes paid sick leave, paid vacation, and holidays paid but not worked. So, if you had the July 4th holiday off for example, but worked an extra 8 hours in that same week, you'd be entitled to overtime pay for 8 hours (article VII, section 2). Employees whose weekly salary is less than $1100.45 may be offered compensatory time (also at the time and a half) in lieu of pay, but it's the employee's choice as to whether to accept the overtime in comp time or cash (article VII section 3).

Exempted from time and a half pay after 40 hours are "Editorial Writers, Display and Outside Sales Representatives,T-5 Programmer/Analysts; Cartoonists; Columnists; Critics; Writers and Photographers assigned to cover professional and college teams with trips away from home for one or more nights; Reporters doing out-of-town survey stories; Political Writers following speaking tours or doing a series of "political roundup" stories; Reporters on foreign service; and employees whose regular weekly salaries are at or in excess $1,100.45. Special straight comp time applies to employees in these job titles (article VII, section 9).

If you are NOT one of the above, your time sheet should record accurately all time worked. Your supervisor should be aware before you work overtime, of course, but if your supervisor tells you that you cannot be paid for hours worked over 40, you need to see a steward. Overtime violations are not only contract violations, but are violations of federal law.

 

Guild Grievances Protect Post Employees' Rights, Safety

When things go smoothly in your work life, that's nice. But when they don't, it's good to have the protection of a union contract, and to have a union to help enforce that contract. And it's also important sometimes to have your fellow employees speak up on your behalf. Those are the lessons that two of our colleagues learned in recent cases that became union grievances, both of which were resolved successfully:

Post Imposes Bogus Probation and Unfair Evaluation
It was a pleasant surprise last May for an employee in Advertising to be told that her position was being upgraded, and her pay was being increased. But the bad news was being told that she was also on probation in her new job. And more bad news followed two months later when she received an evaluation that included an "unsatisfactory" rating for attendance--after she'd been hospitalized with a chronic illness.

Fortunately, the Guild was there to defend her rights. Both her "probationary" status and her unsatisfactory rating were violations of the contract that covers 1,400 employees in the commercial and news departments. The Guild filed a grievance and, after the Guild filed for binding arbitration to a neutral arbitrator, the Post agreed that it was wrong on both counts and restored the employee to her former status.

In our last negotiations with the Post in 1999, the Guild sought and obtained clarification in contract language to make it clear that when you are promoted, you may have a trial period over Guild Grievances, Continued period in your new job, but you do NOT revert to the probationary status of a new employee. The employee in question had been here more than two years, and the Post was fully aware of a chronic health problem that occasionally caused absences.

In response to the grievance, the Post acknowledged that a supervisor had erred in placing her on probation. But the company initially refused to remove her "unsatisfactory" rating--until the Guild argued that it was a violation of the Family & Medical Leave Act, which prohibits employees from being penalized for health-related absences covered by the law. The Post finally settled the case, restoring her satisfactory rating and removing the negative attendance rating from her file.

Employee Safety Jeopardized by Post
In the second case, also in Advertising, the Guild filed a grievance on behalf of an employee who was poorly treated by one of the company nurses. The employee suffers from a rare and recurring ailment that causes her dizziness that often leads to fainting. When this happens, she needs the assistance of a nurse to revive her.

This time, feeling a fainting spell coming on, the woman asked a co-worker to get the nurse. When her colleague ran to the Health Center, the nurse on duty rolled her eyes and complained, "oh, her again?" The nurse refused to come, and instead handed the co-worker smelling salts. The coworker protested that she didn't know what to do, and expressed fear her colleague would pass out. "Call 911," the nurse curtly advised her.

After the Guild filed a grievance, the Post acknowledged the facts of the case, as described by the employees. The nurse in question was ordered to make oral and written apologies to the employee, and to assure the employee that such behavior would not happen again.

If you have a question about your rights at work, contact your Guild steward.

 

Contract's Final Pay Increase Kicks In

In our next paychecks, we will receive the fifth and final pay raise-effective August 27--that was negotiated in the 1999-2002-labor contract between the Post and the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild.

That's all, folks. Our contract that governs our pay, benefits and working conditions expires on May 18. No more contractual improvements-until we negotiate a new contract. Our recent pay raises, while not as much as we would have hoped, cumulatively raised our salaries by considerably more than the Post initially offered in the last round of bargaining. We also fought back Post proposals for some regressive measures, such as mandatory drug testing.

Now, we all face a choice. There is a passive option, which basically accepts whatever the Post Company decides to offer at the table. Newspaper executives around the country are all sounding a familiar lament: profits have dipped below 20 percent and they must cut back on staff and capital outlay to keep up with their competitors. The Post, while still generating a most healthy profit, is cutting back expenditures on various fronts.

The passive option--no option-- would mean that we simply accept what the Post proposes on salaries, on changes in health-care coverage, on pension improvements or cuts, and on other changes in working conditions, such as the increasing burden that has been placed on all of us because of the Internet.

The other option, of course, is an active one, in which we strengthen our voice at work and make sure that it's heard loud and clear. In all departments, we have been working harder than ever and taking on new duties created by the demands of electronic news and advertising. In fairness, the Post should be willing to acknowledge this extra effort.

Our collective voice at work is our union--the Guild. We Post employees are the Guild --the union is not someone else somewhere else. The Guild--your co-workers, stewards, and elected officers, will begin bargaining collectively with the company early next year for a new contract. The Post must by law bargain over wages, hours, and working conditions. Our voice is strongest, our strength at the table greatest, when our union membership is highest. By joining the Guild, you send the Post a message that you mean to have your voice heard in improving our work lives.

 


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