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Sept. 7, 2004 A Power Point Presentation Recently, I have been thinking about a day that, frankly, I usually avoid thinking about. That would be June 24 of last year, the final day of bargaining on the current contract. It was one of the most depressing and upsetting days of my life. I still feel terrible when I remember that short walk up Calvert Street, bringing that document to the meeting at Center Stage. So much work for so little result. I wish we had could have given you, the members, something better to vote on. The image that sticks in my mind is what I saw as we left the negotiating room in the 601 N. Calvert Street building that evening. Standing in the lobby were three guys who looked like the defensive line of the Ravens. Huge people. Call them what you will -- goons, enforcers -- they were the security guards brought in by The Tribune for contract expiration day. What their overwhelming physical presence, which was meant to be intimidating, brought home to me was that so much of what we had been doing for all those weeks in that room was just a sham. Allegedly we were negotiating, exercising our intelligence and logical thinking skills to work together to reach creative solutions to our mutual problems. But in the end, those things mattered little, if at all. The process, as embodied in those security guards, was about power, pure and simple. The Tribune had spent $3 million of its shareholders' money to build up its muscles to get that contract. It had also, as our former colleague Scott Shane has pointed out, spent $3 million to alienate its employees. That's what happens when you exercise that kind of power -- you might get obedience, but you also get bitterness. In the months since, we have unfortunately only seen more of the same from The Tribune. Layoffs (the first in over 20 years at The Sun) came with a stonewalling of the Guild and an incredible legal strategy that forced us to go to federal court to challenge apparent violations of the contract language on layoffs. A buyout offer came and when the Guild calmly pointed out that the proposal appeared to be in violation of federal law, we were greeted with hysterical shrieks that blamed us for forcing more layoffs as again the company tried to use raw power to ram this through. There are more examples. But hope springs eternal in the mind of your Unit Chair. Your Guild committee approached bargaining over a new ethics policy optimistic that this would not be another attempt to exercise such force. Certainly any reasonable person understands that ethics cannot be about power. They are about integrity and respect and values and an understanding of the importance of this great journalistic enterprise, how that must never be damaged. In some ways, the first month of these talks has justified those hopes. The tone has been civil, for one thing. The issues raised have usually been interesting, stimulating and thought-provoking. The ingredients are there for these negotiations to end up being what negotiations are supposed to be; a challenging process that leads to a better outcome than either party could have reached on its own. That said, I must note that there are also the ingredients for these negotiations to follow the path we trod down in contract talks last year. First, remember that in that contract, we agreed that after eight weeks of good faith legal bargaining on ethics, management can impose its final offer. That, pure and simple, is power. But more crucial to the direction of these ethics negotiations are the fundamental differences between the proposal from management and the counter-proposal from the Guild. Management built its proposal on what I would call a hierarchical view of ethics. At almost every turn, you are supposed to get the approval of your supervisor. It is this approval not the action itself that puts your activity on the ethical side of the ledger. Our counter, by contrast, emphasizes that ethics are an internalized set of values. We say that certainly you should seek guidance and, when necessary, permission when confronted with ethical dilemmas, but that ultimately it is your actions that make you ethical or unethical. As long as your internal compass, which this policy should help set, keeps you behaving ethically, then it should not matter what your supervisor says or does. What is worrisome is that the difference between the two proposals is fundamentally about power. The management proposal puts all the power in the hands of management to determine what is and isn't ethical. The Guild proposal empowers you to understand your ethical responsibilities and act accordingly. At base, the question is this: Are employees supposed to be ethical or just obedient? There is a big difference. We will know more this week as management responds to the Guild counter-proposal. We will look for signs that these sessions, which go through the end of September -- will not end up like last year's contract negotiations, simply an exercise in power, both in imposing an ethics code over your objections and using it to control your life. We hope that will not be the case. We will keep you informed. --
Michael Hill Guild Picnic September 12! Our Guild picnic is approaching fast, so don't forget the date on Sunday, September 12th from 1pm to 6pm at Southwest Area Park, in Landsdowne, MD. Look for a flyer this week for more details. Be there or be square! Support Journalists' Right to Protect Sources The Guild is supporting -- along with Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Newspaper Association of America and a number of other professional groups - a statement on behalf of reporters threatened for protecting their sources. The statement reads:
The statement is available on the Loop, or at http://www.rcfp.org/standup/. Sun Guild Unit Calendar Sun Mobilizing Meeting, Today, Tuesday, September 8, 2004 Noon-1pm at the Sun Cafeteria. Ethics Code Bargaining, Today, Tuesday, September 8, 2004 at 11am at the University of Baltimore Business Center Room 133. Guild Bargaining Committee receives Sun counter proposal. Ethics Code Bargaining, Friday, September 10, 2004 at 11am at the University of Baltimore Business Center Room 133. Guild Bargaining Committee receives Sun counter proposal. WBNG Membership Meeting, Saturday, September 11, 2004, 10am-Noon at Washington Guild Office 1100 15th Street Suite 350, NW, Washington, DC 20005. Guild Unit Picnic, Sunday, September 12, 2004, 1pm-6pm at Southwest Area Park in Landsdowne, MD. Baltimore Council of Newspaper Unions Meeting (BCNU), Tuesday, September 14, 2004, 4pm at the Guild Baltimore Office (up the hill) 415 St. Paul Place. Guild Sun Unit Leadership Meeting, TBD Sun Steward Meeting, Tuesday, September 21, 2004 Noon-1:00pm at the Guild Baltimore Office (up the hill) 415 St. Paul Place, Baltimore, MD 21202. Guild and Sun Settle Layoff Lawsuit On July 21, 2004, with the aid of a US District Court Judge Magistrate, the Guild reached settlement with the Sun over the contractual disputes in connection with the December 2003 and January 2004 layoffs. Settlement details regarding the individuals can't be disclosed because of confidentiality reasons but all parties involved were agreeable to the terms. Neither party waived its positions regarding the interpretation of the contract, so the issues may arise again if the Sun repeats its performance. Guild
Wins Arbitration: On August 5, 2004, an arbitrator ruled that the Sun did not have just and sufficient cause to terminate Sales Assistant, David Brown. In August 2004 Sun management incorrectly fired David Brown for excessive absenteeism and tardiness due to medical reasons. Management was fully aware of the situation yet did not inform David of his federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) rights and decided to terminate his employment anyway. The arbitrator concluded that most of the absences and tardiness were covered and protected by the FMLA. The arbitrator also said the Sun could not administer discipline for absences which were covered by accrued earned sick leave under the union contract. Because management was aware of the medical condition it had the duty to inform David of his federal FMLA rights, and as a result of this failure he was automatically covered under the Act. In the end the arbitrator directed the Sun to offer David reinstatement along with back pay and benefits. Congratulations David! Grievances/Issues in the Pipeline Do Sun Labor Relations and the Tribune take employees grievances seriously? Maybe…it depends on the issue…but mostly no! How do we know this? The trend lately is for Labor Relations to take their time in scheduling grievance meetings. Management scheduling…meetings with other unions…and other Labor Relations business are all excuses we often hear. Labor Relations knows that justice delayed is justice denied and that's exactly what they want. Unfortunately, it doesn't just stop with grievance meetings There is also a problem with the attorneys scheduling arbitrations. The Tribune attorneys are constantly pushing for the latest dates available in an attempt to prolong the process and freeze out the grievant. And, it's not just a problem with the Guild. Other unions at the Sun, in particular the Pressmen, have complained about Tribune's reluctance to schedule arbitrations. Wait, it gets worse! So far this year the Tribune and Labor Relations have refused to go to arbitration with the Guild on two issues. As a result, the Guild filed a lawsuit in Federal Court over one issue-the December and January layoffs--to compel the Tribune to participate in arbitration-the negotiated dispute resolution process. Now, the Tribune and Labor Relations are doing the same thing for the "unwritten ethics code" issue. What next? Here are some recent examples of Labor Relations delaying tactics:
Other issues in the pipeline:
Sun Guild Unit Officers Michael Hill Unit Chair 410 332 6070 Alvesta Cooper Commercial 410 332 6886 Julie Bell News 410 332 6153 Larry Carson Suburban 410 715 2810 Joe Queen Sun Park 410 385 7046 Lori Calderone WBNG AO 202 785 3650 Cet Parks WBNG Rep 202 785 3650 Amy Davis Chief Mobilizer 410 332 6940 Dave Wright Web Master 410 332 6873 Return to Guild Local Home Page
Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, Local 32035 TNG-CWA, AFL-CIO/ 1100 15th St., NW, Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20005 202-785-3650 /Fax: 202-785-3659 © 2004 Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild. No portion of this website may be reproduced in any form without expressed written permission, except by members of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild. Copyright of photographs is held by the photographers; reprint permission may be granted only by the photographers. WBNG is solely responsible for the content of this website. Questions or comments about this site? Contact Local32035@wbng.org |
