Baltimore Sun - Guild News

By this time, you know the bad news. Parking in the Sun's lot has gone up by $5 a week -- $3.50 for those making under $25,000. The Guild "agreed" to this mainly because we knew that disagreeing was not going to stop it. But at least you will get something in return out of this round of bargaining with the company.

That is the ability to participate in a program that will give bus and other mass transit riders the same tax breaks that those of us parking in the company garage get -- the costs can be paid out of pre-tax money, reducing the amount of your income that’s subject to income tax.

The way it works is this: You sign up for the program with the company. It buys your monthly mass transit pass and deducts the money from your paycheck and sends the pass to you. That money is deducted before taxes are calculated, just like the money for parking is now deducted from paychecks.

We recognize this is not a big concession from the company. In fact, the company saves money since it does not have to pay its share of Social Security tax on the pre-tax earnings. But it is something. And, management backed away from its demand that the Guild agree that in the future, parking rates for employees would go up by the same percentage as they go up for the public without any further bargaining.

This is a good program. If you use mass transit, you should sign up for it. And, it also opens up the possibility of parking elsewhere and getting the same tax benefits, something that might make sense if company parking rates continue to climb.

--Michael Hill, Guild Unit Chair

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How to Take Advantage of the Pre-Tax Commuter Reimbursement Program Who can benefit: Guild jurisdiction employees who take the bus, train, Metro or light rail, or who park at or near work. How you save: Use pre-tax earnings to the limit allowable by the IRS to pay for eligible commuter expenses, and reduce your taxable income. How to enroll: Go to www.wageworks.com, click on “first time user? Register now” and follow the steps or call 877-924-3967 to enroll by phone. (If you currently park in the Sun parking garage, you are already enrolled and getting the pre-tax benefit. If you wish to change garages, you will need to register through wageworks.com.) What’s the maximum pre-tax contribution allowed by IRS? Currently, $105 per month for mass transit (train or bus) and $200 per month for parking. Register by the 10th of each month for coverage for the next month (so register by January 10 for February coverage.)

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So Long, 2004

How about a big Holiday Cheer for the Sun/Trib company bargainers who bent over backwards to demonstrate their good will toward those hardworking Guild members somehow scratching by on less than $25,000 a year. Those loyal workers will only have to pay $3.50 more each week (instead of $5.00) to park their cars in the company garage. The Sun/Trib gave up $1.50 a week in parking revenues each week from each of those 22 people, a sacrifice of $33 per week. We suppose that reduced Jack Fuller's consulting fee from $1,749 a day to just $1,716 a day (Fuller recently retired from Trib and picked up a lucrative $51,000 a month—ya, A MONTH—“consulting” gig with his old bosses. What a guy! What a company! Here’s some better ways to spend Jack’s money:

Our sincerest good wishes to the 28 union members of the Columbia Typographical Union who were offered—and took—huge buyouts ($125,000 plus two years’ salary) from Tribune/Sun. The Guild wishes you well in your next careers. Having spent literarily millions of dollars (more than $3.5 million in the incentive alone) in enticements to these loyal workers, Trib is too cheap or disorganized to have assessed exactly who would do the work left behind, and how it would be done. As a result, much of the work previously performed in the Production Department has been passed on to the to Guild Ad Designers in the Ad Department. The top-down Trib did not 1) consult with the involved employees 2) seek to understand their work processes or 3) ask them for solutions to the problems. Instead of actually living up to the team-based concept they claim to have created in advertising, they fell back on their old culture of management where decisions are made behind closed doors and employees are only involved after the fact. The Guild will be meeting with Sun/Trib on 1/6 about the effect of the buyout on the work and the workers who perform it.

Tax savings: if you itemize your deductions, be sure and hold on to that last pay stub of ’04. Union members who itemize may be able to claim union dues (depending on your taxable income and other deductions).

Welcome 2005!

Perhaps in 2005 Sun/Trib will finally evaluate all those Guild jurisdiction employees who did not receive any evaluation in 2004, although it was mandatory for the supervisor to conduct them. Hope the company is more careful about ensuring that pay-for-performance money is handed out in a non-discriminatory way than it was about making sure employees were even evaluated.

But seriously, we wish all Guild jurisdiction workers a happy, healthy New Year! Together, Guild Sun workers produce the greatest paper Trib’s meager dollars allow, and together we’ll safeguard the work and the workers in 2005.

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