Philly Paper Union: No More Extensions (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

PHILADELPHIA -- The largest union at Philadelphia's two major daily newspapers said Monday that its members don't want another one-month contract extension and are prepared to go on strike once the current pact expires Thursday.

The Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia, which represents over 900 workers at The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, met with management over the holiday weekend and made limited progress, said union President Henry Holcomb.

The union is especially opposed to proposals by owner Philadelphia Media Holdings to take over the pension plan and scrap seniority. The company has proposed halting payments to the pension plan, and is seeking to do away with seniority so that it can lay off any employee it chooses.

"Members are ready to go on strike if these issues are not resolved," Holcomb said. "There's no sign that anybody wants to drag this out."

Contract talks already have been extended a month -- to midnight Thursday. Holcomb said he got a note recently from Brian Tierney, chief executive of the newspapers, saying he wants to wrap up negotiations this week.

The company has told the union that layoffs are necessary and as many as 150 people, or a third of its newsroom staff, could be let go. The newspapers, like many other nationwide, are battling a long slide in circulation and losses in advertising revenue.

Holcomb said the union would rather help management find another way to cut costs, but if firings are necessary, would press for buyouts instead.

The union believes management has been looking for replacement workers in an ad that appeared on CareerBuilder.com, Holcomb said.

Management did not confirm the ad's placement to the union and a company spokesman said last week that he knew nothing about the ad.

Nothing like left wing union fishwrappers committing mass suicide during the Christmas Holidays. Time to bring in the Aztec Priest/Execs at this fishwrap to do their magic:

Fishwrap Owners/Execs firing/sacrificing employees is becoming a new national sport and past time.

Once the dinosaur fishwrap owners/execs get used to the taste of the blood of their fired employees. Future firings will be easier and will serve as punishment, whenever bad results are reported.

The surviving execs/high priests and priestesses will become blood thirsty and will gladly become Aztec priests in their dealings with their underlings. They will use human sacrifices/firings to appease the evil Gods, the owners. Top management knows that there is no place for them to run to for a big paycheck. So they will gladly sacrifice those under them to stay employed until they too are sacrificed.

Now every employee is just one personality conflict away from being sacrificed to the Fishwrap Gods, er, fired.

Philly Newspaper Guild Planning Online Strike Paper

By Joe Strupp

Published: November 28, 2006 3:15 PM ET

NEW YORK If Thursday night's deadline for a new guild contract at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News passes without a deal, resulting in a strike by the union's 900 members, guild leaders plan to produce their own online newspaper using striking staffers as reporters and editors.

"My expectation is we would cover everything the Inquirer and Daily News does now," said Stu Bykofsky, a Daily News staffer and guild spokesman. "I think our initial approach would be treating it like a newspaper and updating it throughout the day." He said the union had already purchased and registered a domain name, but declined to reveal the exact Web address. "Working on it could be an alternative to picket duty," he added. "It is still gelling right now."

Bykofsky and management spokesman Jay Devine said talks between the guild and the papers, currently being handled through a federal mediator, were going well. The guild spokesman said face-to-face negotiations between the two sides, without a mediator, could occur as early as today. "Our negotiators have been told to stand by," Bykofsky said. "Negotiations are moving forward."

Devine also showed optimism, saying "they are making progress and continue to make progress."

But the union also has been organizing all week to plan for the possibility of a strike, with some 600 members signing up for strike benefits last weekend and picketing locations being set.

Today, two union bulletins related to strike preparation were sent to members via e-mail. One reminded them to take any personal possessions they may need from their desks before the midnight Thursday deadline because they would not be allowed back in the building once a strike occurs. "We will keep you posted on our progress and give you advance warning if the union is preparing to call a strike," the bulletin stated. "Still it is prudent for many reasons to go ahead and take your stuff home."

The second bulletin reminded members not to cross picket lines or work as scabs if the papers seek to continue publishing. "People who cross the picket lines will be regarded as Benedict Arnolds and be ostracized," Bykofsky said.

Devine said the papers have not decided any course of action related to publishing during a strike, but called a report in the Philadelphia Weekly of an ad seeking temporary strike workers "ludicrous." "They are still focused on getting an agreement," he said of the papers ownership. "They haven't gone that far down the road yet."

Thursday marks the expiration of the guild's latest contract extension, the second such extension since the six-year guild agreement ended Aug. 31. The contract was first extended to Oct. 31, then to Nov. 30.

Union leaders have said they do not want another extension and expect to either sign a new agreement or walk out at the end of the day Thursday. The papers are owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings, which purchased them from The McClatchy Company last summer.

The guild is the largest of the newspapers' 10 unions, each of which face contract expirations on Thursday. The guild, which has been negotiating through a mediator since last month, voted to authorize a strike on Oct. 26.

The major disagreements at this point have been over management's request to cap the union pension, diminish the power of seniority in job security, and require five days of unpaid time off before sick pay kicks in.

The strike talk comes just weeks after Publisher Brian Tierney announced plans to cut as many as 150 editorial jobs. Those would come a year after more than 100 job were lost at both papers through a 2005 buyout.

The papers' last strike was a 46-day job action in 1985, Bykofsky said. He said about one-third of the current guild membership was involved in that walkout.

Joe Strupp (jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.

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http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/16126913.htm
Newspaper talks continue as strike looms
Negotiations with the largest Inquirer and Daily News union have a deadline of 12:01 a.m. but may go longer.
By Joseph N. DiStefano
Inquirer Staff Writer

Labor talks at The Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News might continue past tomorrow's 12:01 a.m. deadline amid some signs of last-minute progress.

Political leaders have been pressed into service to help avoid a threatened strike by nearly 1,000 advertising, editorial and circulation workers who are members of the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia.

Today, Gov. Rendell will contact union leaders and executives of Philadelphia Newspapers L.L.C., which publishes the papers, "and make sure both sides are communicating," said his spokeswoman, Kate Philips.

U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, head of the city Democratic Party, said he was trying to reach Philadelphia Newspapers chief executive officer Brian P. Tierney at the request of union leaders "to see how we can help."

In a note to advertising, newsroom and circulation workers represented by the Newspaper Guild, Philadelphia Newspapers cited "significant progress" on three major issues and predicted they could be resolved in a few days' time, making a threatened strike by the paper's largest union unnecessary.

Among the company's new proposals:

"A process that could allow the Guild pension plan to continue," perhaps through a "lump-sum payment" that would offset future pension contributions by workers. Previously the company said it wanted to stop paying into the plan.

Acceptance of seniority as "the primary criteria for layoff, unless there is a documented basis" to show a worker who would otherwise lose his or her job has "superior" performance, "unique skill," or "special importance."

With their Buttonwood Street hall overflowing last evening, Guild members poured into a nearby parking lot to discuss the offer and detail strike plans, including strike pay, picket-line assignments, and a news Web site to be produced by strikers during a walkout.

The crowd cheered when union president Henry J. Holcomb argued against extending the contract for a third time, saying previous extensions "have not done a damn thing."

Instead, he urged the company to negotiate round-the-clock - even if that means going past the deadline and through tomorrow - to get the deal done. Holcomb said the company's proposals had loopholes that could be closed in a few hours of negotiations "if the company is serious."

Holcomb said company representatives had given signs that they do not plan raises for any unionized employees in the contracts.

Earlier, the union that represents drivers, cleaners and helpers at the papers became the eighth of 10 unions to reach a tentative agreement with the publisher on noneconomic issues, according to the company and Teamsters Local 628.

Pay raises and the duration of the contracts for the eight unions have yet to be settled, and "we're not going to have time to get it all done between now and tomorrow," said Joe Lyons, president of the council representing three Teamsters locals and six smaller newspaper unions.

Before those economic issues can be settled for that group of unions, Philadelphia Newspapers has to reach one more agreement, with Teamsters Local 1414, which represents mailers, who prepare papers for delivery at the company's Upper Merion Township printing plant, union officials said.

Lyons said the unions he represents might be open to an extension of contract talks beyond the Nov. 30 deadline if they believed they were close to a final settlement. The contracts have been extended twice since Aug. 31.

But leaders of the Guild, which is not part of Lyons' council, said members were preparing to walk off the job - possibly at the end of the night. The union said its members would publish news at the union-run www.philapapers.com Web site in the event of a strike.

Aided by a federal mediator, Guild and company negotiators have been trading proposals for changes to pensions, seniority and sick leave.

Tierney said "a tremendous amount of progress is being made" in last-minute talks. The industry is under pressure to change its practices, and hard bargaining was to be expected, he said, adding that owners and workers "are all in this together."

Company officials have told investors that a decline in national advertising has forced them to plan for reduced spending, including a possible 190 job cuts across the company.

Tierney said a final decision on any job cuts "depends on what happens" at the bargaining table.
Contact staff writer Joseph N. DiStefano at 215-854-5957 or jdistefano@phillynews.com.

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