Posted on 12/07/2006 4:25:02 AM PST by abb
Excellent point...
Bykofsky flip flops in yet another story: "It is so utterly baffling to me that they (the company) want control of a fund they didn't create and didn't fund," Bykofsky said.
Philadelphia's two biggest newspapers could face their first strike since 1985 after talks between management and the newspapers' largest union stalled over the issue of pensions.
In a story posted on the newspapers' Web site Wednesday night, the president of The Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia was quoted as saying that strike could be authorized by the national union, the Communications Workers of America, "anytime after tonight."
The threatening tone was struck just hours after the sides finished more than five unproductive hours of negotiations.
The insistence by owner Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC that it freeze the Guild workers' pension caused the talks to grind to a halt, the union said. Two days earlier, after marathon talks over the weekend, the sides reached a tentative agreement on a sticky seniority issue.
But these talks had a seemingly dour tone, with each side blaming the other for the lack of progress.
"This is a damn sad situation," Henry Holcomb, president of the Guild, said in a statement. "The Company's position threatens to undo all of the good work we have done and put us on strike."
The Guild had already obtained strike authorization from its members and its international union, Guild spokesman Stu Bykofsky said early Thursday. He said the organization would meet with its members on Thursday to discuss the next move.
The last strike at the newspapers, in 1985, lasted 46 days.
The threat of a walkout came a day after nine unions at The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News reached tentative agreements on their contracts.
But the issue of pensions bogged down the Guild and management.
Jay Devine, spokesman for owner Philadelphia Media Holdings, said the company presented several pension proposals with different options and was hopeful the union would present a counterproposal.
"We didn't seem to make much headway today," Devine said.
The union took a stronger stand on the day's developments, telling members to take their personal items from work and "await instructions on other actions."
The union says the company refused to move off its proposal to take sole control of the pension fund away from a joint board of trustees made up of three union members, three management members and an impartial member.
"It is so utterly baffling to me that they (the company) want control of a fund they didn't create and didn't fund," Bykofsky said.
"This is ominous. The situation is very serious. If the company doesn't change its attitude or position, there won't be much to talk about."
No date or time was set for negotiations to resume. Devine said he expects the federal mediator to bring the sides together again.
Even as the sides engaged in marathon bargaining sessions last Saturday and Sunday, the union prepped for a possible walkout. Those plans include a news Web site which would compete with the company-owned site.
The Guild represents over 900 editorial, circulation, advertising and clerical workers at the two papers. Its contract expired at midnight on Nov. 30, but union officials said the Guild would continue contract talks as long as progress was being made.
Joe Inemer, vice president of the Philadelphia Council of Newspaper Unions, said each of the other nine unions will ask members to vote to ratify their contracts over the next week and a half.
The council, which represents 1,100 employees in nine unions at Philadelphia's two largest newspapers, agreed to terms on economic issues with owner Philadelphia Media Holdings on Tuesday night. They had reached an accord on non-economic matters in prior weeks.
Devine, spokesman for Philadelphia Media Holdings, said management will wait until it gets a better sense of savings it could negotiate with the Guild before deciding on a final number of layoffs.
Department heads had been told that as many as 150 jobs could be cut from the Inquirer newsroom, about a third of the staff.
Update...
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/16186929.htm
Guild, newspapers meet with mediator
By Joseph N. DiStefano
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Union negotiators were meeting with a federal mediator this afternoon in an effort to seek common ground and re-start stalled contract talks between The Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, and their largest labor union.
The two sides deadlocked Wednesday over the fate of the Newspaper Guild's pension plan, which has nearly $200 million in assets. The company wants to stop contributing to the plan.
According to a statement circulated by the Guild, the union has said it's willing to divert wages into the plan to help keep it going, and to merge the plan with other union pension plans.
But, the union added, Guild negotiators are unwilling to agree to a company proposal under which union representatives would no longer serve alongside management appointees as co-trustees of the fund.
"We cannot give up control of the money," the union wrote, "to an employer with such a brief history and such heavy debt."
Company spokesman Jay Devine was unavailable for comment this afternoon.
The union has said it will strike if talks reach an impasse. Its previous contract expired last week, but the terms remain in force. The papers' other unions are reviewing separate contract proposals and are expected to hold ratification votes by the end of next week, according to union leaders.
In case of a strike, publisher Brian P. Tierney has said he will keep publishing the paper using non-Guild employees, including workers who still have union contracts in force. The Guild has said it will open a news Web site of its own for the duration of the strike.
Contact Joseph N. DiStefano at 215-854-5957 or jdistefano@phillynews.com
latest update...
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/16186929.htm
Posted on Thu, Dec. 07, 2006
Inquirer, Daily News publisher urges staff to support pension plan
By Joseph N. DiStefano
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The publisher of The Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News called on employees today to support his plan to take over the management of the Newspaper Guild pension fund assets because he believes his company can "maximize the investment returns" better than the current pension board, which is split between labor and management.
His statement to employees came as talks over a new contract for 1,000 advertising, news and office workers represented by the Guild stalled Tuesday night over the question of the fund's future. The Guild has threatened to strike if the impasse is not resolved.
Federal mediator Walter Bednarczyk shuttled between the two sides trying to restart negotiations.
While current pension obligations must be paid under federal law, publisher Brian P. Tierney said he wants to stop using company funds to finance additional pension accruals because "we simply can no longer afford the very generous pay and benefits of a bygone era when newspapers dominated the media." The company had been paying an amount equal to about 7 percent of each worker's paycheck into the fund.
Tierney said the company will still remain responsible for funding any deficits in the plan even if it stops making regular contributions. "Since we are on the hook," Tierney added, "we want the decision-making authority."
Tierney also linked the Guild's decision on whether to go along with the pension switch, to a round of expected newsroom layoffs. "We would much prefer for everyone to share a little bit in the pain, so that we can spare perhaps dozens of our colleagues from losing their jobs altogether."
Company officials declined to provide financial information about the current status of the pension plan which covers Guild members.
The Guild says the plan, with nearly $200 million in assets, "is almost fully funded" under federal law which requires a match between investment assets and expected future payments to retirees.
According to a statement circulated by the Guild, the union has said it's willing to divert wages into the current plan to help keep it going, and to merge the plan with other union pension plans.
But, the union added, Guild negotiators are unwilling to agree to a company proposal under which union representatives would no longer serve alongside management appointees as co-trustees of the fund.
"We cannot give up control of the money," the union wrote, "to an employer with such a brief history and such heavy debt."
Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC bought the papers last spring for $515 million in cash, including around $300 million in bank loans, $65 million in high-interest bonds and $150 million invested by Tierney and at least 11 other co-owners.
The union also said it wants the company to combine discussion of the pension with discussions over wage levels, which are traditionally the last issue resolved in contract talks.
The Guild's previous contract expired last week, but the terms remain in force. The papers' other unions are reviewing separate contract proposals and are expected to hold ratification votes by the end of next week, according to union leaders.
In case of a strike, Tierney has said he will keep publishing the paper using non-Guild employees, including workers who still have union contracts in force. The Guild has said it will open a news Web site of its own for the duration of the strike.
Contact Joseph N. DiStefano at 215-854-5957 or jdistefano@phillynews.com
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