Guild to Post: This Is Our Economic Reality

The Guild described the stark economic realities facing its members at the Sept. 21 bargaining session for a new labor contract at The Post

The Guild presentation was in response to Patricia Dunn, the company's lead negotiator in talks with the Guild, who began the session by referring to recent news of job cuts at other newspapers. Dunn's point was clear: With circulation declines, increased competition and rising costs of newsprint, employees should take what they can get and be thankful they're not getting laid off. The Guild's insistence on actually raising employees' standard of living was, Dunn said, "unrealistic."

Dunn did not mention the more upbeat assessment that shareholders heard last week from Post Publisher Bo Jones, who described The Washington Post newspaper as "robust" – an assessment echoed in recent weeks by several analysts' predictions that 2006 will be a strong year for the company's newspaper division.

"There is nothing wrong with this region," Jones told investors. "We don't think there's a better one from a journalistic or business point of view."

Whatever the challenges facing The Post, they are far greater for Post employees, Guild chief negotiator Rick Ehrmann told Dunn.

As The Post has recently reported, the cost of living in the DC area has skyrocketed, Ehrmann said. A family of three would have to earn 26 percent more today than five years ago just to maintain a "subsistence" level of living in the District – about triple the contractual wage increases employees have received from The Post during that period. The percentage increase is even higher in Prince George's County (33 percent), Arlington (38 percent) and Montgomery County (42 percent).

Ehrmann also cited recent projections that heating bills this winter will be up to 34 percent higher this winter than last. The price of gasoline has skyrocketed, as has the cost of housing across the metropolitan area. Median home prices have gone up $57,000 over a one-year period in P.G. County, for example – the least expensive local jurisdiction and where many Post employees live, especially those in commercial.

"The climate for working people has changed for the worse, dramatically," Ehrmann said. "It is very important that management realize that this is a different situation for us than three years ago. We need to be able to catch up and recoup." The Guild has been adamant that employees must wind up with a better wage package then the one in the current contract.

Two Strikes and You’re Out
Having laid out the company's intentions to keep costs down at employees' expense, Dunn made her case for one of the more egregious proposals on management's agenda: A new disciplinary policy that would allow managers to fire employees for minor infractions after just two warnings.

This draconian proposal – which Dunn said management is intent on winning – would drastically affect commercial department employees, whose work is already heavily monitored and who live in constant fear of being written up for arriving four or five minutes late or missing an incoming call. But it is also a serious matter for the not insignificant number of newsroom employees who, for various reasons, find themselves at odds with their supervisors or editors.

Under federal labor law, employees are entitled to "progressive discipline" before being subject to dismissal for less-than-dire offenses, if a union contract has a "just cause" provision, as our Guild contract does. The longstanding practice at The Post is to give employees several opportunities to improve their performance, through a series of verbal and written warnings and suspensions. If an employee is fired without progressive discipline, the Guild can take that case to an impartial arbitrator for a binding decision. The Post's proposal would effectively tie the arbitrator’s hands.

Dunn said the company wants to "streamline" the dismissal process. Two strikes are enough, she said. After that, "they need to find a job somewhere else." What the company really wants is to assume the role of “judge, jury and executioner” by limiting the scope of an arbitrator’s authority.

"It is outrageous," Ehrmann responded. "Even Ronald Reagan gave you three strikes. And that was for criminals! We are dealing with employees."

Copping Out on Comp Time, Expenses
Post negotiators also made their case for other proposed changes, including one that would force employees to wait at least six months and as long as a year to get paid for comp time (and would limit the number of paid comp days to 10 per year), and one that would require employees to file expense reports promptly or risk not getting reimbursed.

There were also "clarification" discussions on other proposals, useful in further defining what each side is seeking.

ANNE MARIE DITCHEY; ANN GERHART; ROBIN GROOM; VERONICA INGRAM; STEPHEN KING; GERALD MARTINEAU; DARLENE MEYER; ROBERT PIERRE; DAVID ROBIE; KEITH SINZINGER; RICK WEISS; RICK EHRMANN