Sixteen days after voting down a similar offer,
journalists and other Newspaper Guild members at the Inquirer, the Daily News,
and Philly.com overwhelmingly approved a three-year contract that promises
better health insurance but ends seniority protections in the event of a
layoff.
The vote was 203-79.
The current contract between the Newspaper Guild and
Philadelphia Media Network, owner of the publications, was to expire in July.
“We can now focus on moving forward and serving the
people of Philadelphia with great journalism,” said publisher Terrance C.Z.
Egger. “We have wonderful people here, we respect them. ... We have this
resolved and we’re looking to move forward.”
The new deal, unlike the previous offer, was endorsed by
the union bargaining committee.
“Once again, the Newspaper Guild and its members stepped
up to help try to push this company forward,” said local president Howard
Gensler. “We’re disappointed with the company’s bargaining position with regard
to seniority, but they’ll have no more excuses now. We’re taking the company at
its word that they don’t want layoffs.”
Guild members will join a more advantageous
health-insurance fund, and the company will pay to keep workers’ weekly
contributions the same in the first year. It also will cover any rate increases
up to 6 percent in the second and third years.
Some Philly.com workers will get pay raises as their
contract merges with that of the main unit, but other Guild members will see no
increase. Workers will receive a $1,000 signing bonus, up from the $500 offered
in the earlier proposal.
The company will offer a buyout — 26 weeks of pay and six
months of health-care coverage — to newsroom Guild members who are 55 or older
and have at least 15 years of service.
The new contract makes length of service one of four
primary factors in deciding who stays. The others are performance,
qualifications, and skills and abilities.
Source: Philly.com
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