Guild Negotiates Improvements to Post Buyout
And Separation Incentive Programs

On May 1, 104 Guild-covered Post employees will receive an offer to accept a Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program (VRIP), the fourth such program to be offered in recent years.

This buyout, as were those in the past, will be funded by the surplus in the Post-Guild Pension Plan. The surplus has shrunk and with it the terms of the buyout. Still, depending on your individual circumstances and economic conditions, this offer may be a very good way to retire or leave the Post to seek other employment.

Per the Post-Guild collective bargaining agreement (which the Post Guild unit voted in mid-April to extend one additional month, to June 7), negotiations over the terms of the buyout were mandatory. A Guild committee consisting of Darlene Meyer, Ann Marie Ditchey, Sandi Randall, Mike Gronowski, Dave Robie, Eddy Palanzo, Joe Kahraman, and Rick Ehrmann negotiated with Post management on April 13, 16, 20, 21, and 22. The Guild was able to negotiate some improvements, such as an increase in the number of eligible employees, which the Post had originally set at 84.

The eligibility list now includes limited numbers of Directories and Real Estate Account Executives, Metro and Travel Reporters, National Night Editors, and a News Aide.

The Guild also negotitated an increase to the Cash Pension Supplement, from $210 per year of service to $225 per year for up to 30 years – an increase from $6,300 to $6,750 – and increased the Pre-Age-65 annual supplement from $3,500 to $4000. The Guild also was able to negotiate a written guarantee that VRIP retirement benefits for those who accept it will not be reduced in the future.

In the end, the Guild did not sign onto the final result because The Post refused to increase the lump-sum amount. However, all the Guild-negotiated improvements will be included in the packets distributed to eligible employees. Here are the main features of the buyout:

1. One-hundred-four News and Commercial employees in specific full- and part-time positions will receive offers;

2. These employees will be 50 years old by Dec. 31 and have at least five years of service;

3. The retirement cash-incentive is equal to one-half of annual salary to one-and-a-half years of annual salary, depending on years of service;

4. Early retirement benefits will be increased by adding five years to the employee's age (e.g. an employee who is 60 will receive the benefits normally paid at age 65);

5. Cash pension supplement increased to $225 per year of service up to 30 years;

6. Pre-Age-65 health benefit supplement increased to $4,000 per year;

Congratulations if you are one of the people who will be able to take advantage of this offer after long years of dedicated service. You deserve it!

Separate Program for Jobs Being Eliminated
The same Guild committee that negotiated VRIP improvements bargained with the Post over the "Separation Incentive Program" for jobs that are being contracted out or otherwise eliminated: Guild-covered employees in the Consumer-to-Consumer and Jobs Business Development Call Centers, Jobs Business Development Inside Major Accounts Team, and Jobs Major Accounts Unit. Affected employees include some who do not meet the age and years-of-service requirements of the VRIP.

The Guild contract bars the Post from laying off employees as a direct result of contracting out. The Guild was able to improve the lump-sum payment amount in each payment category: Up to four years of service from $2,500 to $3,700; five-to-nine-years from $5,000 to $6,700; 10-19 years of service from $7,500 to $9,700; and 20 years or more from $10,000 to $15,700.

Employees would receive these amounts in addition to the Guild-Post Contract severance pay amount of one week’s pay for every six months of employment. COBRA health-insurance benefits would be covered for up to nine months by the federal government’s economic recovery program, which includes 65 percent of COBRA premiums for up to nine months.

Employees not eligible for this federal payment will receive 65 percent of COBRA premiums from the Post for either six months (if less than 20 years of service) or nine months (more than 20 years).