From their Facebook page Save the Repository:

Members of the Canton unit of Local 1 of The Newspaper Guild voted 64-26 to approve a new 2-year contract with GateHouse Media, owners of The Repository.

GateHouse wanted to eliminate more than 40 jobs when talks began in August 2011. Because of the efforts of Guild members and the support from the community most of those jobs were protected. Union members also kept a variety of protections, including the “Evergreen Clause.”

Thanks to everyone for their support, and please stay tuned. We still need to work to Save The Repository.

Looks like they’ve had enough in Springfield.

From Peoria Unit 86 president Phil Luciano:

This week, Peoria Unit 86′s Executive Board endorsed efforts to organize newsroom workers at the Springfield State Journal-Register.

Sept. 21, 2012

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Springfield,

We fight the same fight that you fight: to be able to do our jobs and receive fair compensation.

But the newspaper industry continues to hamstring itself by decreasing staff, slashing pay and increasing workloads. Demoralized and decimated newsrooms can’t adequately fulfill their duty as public watchdogs. And any failure thereof makes a newspaper nothing but a sham to readers.

You have invested uncountable hours in not just your own careers, but in bettering the reputation and the bottom line of the Springfield State Journal-Register and GateHouse Media. In return, you deserve nothing less than fairness and justice from your employer.

To that end, Guild membership is vital. In these uncertain newspaper times, you need the support and assistance available only via Guild representation. After more than a half-century of Guild protection – and in the wake of the most challenging contract negotiations in a quarter-century – Peoria Unit 86 can attest to the value and power of Guild guidance.

And our fight is the public’s fight: to preserve quality journalism. You are an invaluable resource to your community, and Guild representation will only strengthen that role and connection.

We look forward to your joining our quest.

All the Best,

Phil Luciano
President,
Peoria Unit 86 of the United Media Guild

A new contract effective until March 31, 2014 has been ratified by members of the Peoria United Media Guild Unit 86 by a vote of 49-3.

The ratification officially brings an end to ten months of contentious negotiations between the Guild and Gatehouse Media/Journal Star.

The Guild, led by bargaining team members Phil Luciano, Chris Kaergard, Danielle Hatch, and Tom Butterfield, held off a number of unacceptable demands put forth by the company.

Cuts in pay, vacation, overtime, severance, and mileage reimbursement, increases in medical premiums, changes in job classifications, pay scale, and job security, and the outsourcing of copy desk work were all successfully negotiated away.

The only truly egregious aspect of the new deal, besides a pay freeze, is the company’s insistence on the right to outsource the work of the Journal Star circulation department, a concession that could result in the elimination of over 30 jobs. The bargaining team stressed the futility and potential counterproductivity of negotiating further on this matter.

The bargaining team also pointed out that Unit 86 will likely face more obstacles in the near future as the newspaper industry continues to change, for worse or for better. Many of the issues resolved in the latest contract negotiations such as outsourcing and pay cuts will likely resurface in the next.

Peoria Unit 86 would like to thank the aforementioned members of the bargaining team, as well as Darren Carroll from The Newspaper Guild/CWA, the St. Louis chapter of the United Media Guild, the City of Peoria and surrounding communities, and all members of Unit 86 for their hard work and dedication.

Keep in mind that Guild members at the Canton Repository in Canton, Ohio are still in contract negotiations with Gatehouse Media. They are facing many of the same issues that Unit 86 has been up against. To keep up-to-date on their progress and offer support, visit their Facebook page: Save the Repository

Ten months of contentious negotiations and a strong community campaign have led to a tentative, 31-month agreement effective September 1, 2011 to March 31, 2014 between Gatehouse Media/Journal Star and the Peoria United Media Guild Unit 86.

Many of the company’s most disputed requests were withdrawn from the proposal, including cuts in pay, vacation, overtime, severance, and mileage reimbursement, increases in medical premiums, changes in job classifications, pay scale, and job security, and the outsourcing of copy desk work.

Unfortunately, the controversial issue of outsourcing the circulation department and the elimination of about 36 union jobs remains intact. An enhanced severance package for outsourced employees has been negotiated.

The complete text of the proposal will be available for members early next week, including a spreadsheet detailing the dollar amounts of severance for circulation employees and signing bonuses for all employees.

During a question-and-answer session Friday, members of the Bargaining Committee – Phil Luciano, Danielle Hatch, Chris Kaergard, and Tom Butterfield – and Darren Carroll of The Newspaper Guild outlined the pros and cons of the proposal.

The committee explained its support for the proposal and the potential consequences of rejecting it. They also reiterated their commitment and willingness to lead the Guild’s organizing efforts in the event of a rejection, and to prepare for the next contract negotiations if the proposal is accepted.

Guild members will meet for discussion on the proposal at 12:30 pm. on Thursday, June 14 at the West Central Illinois Labor Council AFL-CIO (Labor Temple), 400 NE Jefferson Ave. in downtown Peoria. Voting will occur at that meeting and will be closed at  2 p.m. that day.

By The Newspaper Guild’s national bylaws, absentee ballots are NOT allowed for a union-ratification vote. You must attend to vote. The bargaining team encourages all members to vote on this important issue.

Come one, come all. Stay for a bit, stay for awhile.

Peoria Unit 86 of United Media Guild will have an informational rally from 11:30 a.m. to 1
p.m. on Thursday May 24 at the Peoria County Courthouse.

Here’s the plan:

• Meet at the war monument near the corner of Main and Adams
streets.

• We hope to have three groups of at least three people at different entry points to the courthouse plaza

• Wear your bulldog t-shirt.

• Bring a poster.

• We’ll be handing out Kit Kat bars in our effort to fight Fat Cat
corporate greed.

• We’ll be passing out informational fliers, postcards and candy.

The stockholder meeting is early Thursday morning. Phil Luciano and
Shannon Duffy will be in attendance and handing out informational
fliers.

The Guild’s efforts to thwart GateHouse Media’s outsourcing plans may be having some success, but for non-Guild members, the writing is on the wall.

By the end of May, employees of the Journal Star’s inside-circulation department will fall under the wheels of the GateHouse outsourcing machine. Some members of the outside-circulation department are Guild members, but inside-circulation workers are not.

Unfortunately, they are completely vulnerable to the whims and dubious judgement of corporate executives in some distant office.

Through no fault of their own, loyal local workers will be forced out in favor of anyone who’s willing to work for much less – a clear case of trading people’s lives for money.

How does this improve the product and benefit the readers? What are the consequences?

Time will tell, but in the meantime…

Wear black on May 30 in support of circulation workers and in memoriam for jobs lost.

With the latest bargaining session fast approaching on May 30, and another one scheduled for June 7, here’s a quick update on what transpired on April 26, plus a couple of important dates to remember:

From Guild president Phil Luciano:

The last bargaining session brought noteworthy movement from the other side. By “noteworthy,” that’s not to say — at all — that we are amenable to these terms. Any comprehensive proposal has to be evaluated in total, and we continue to negotiate many aspects of the contract.

That said:

1. GateHouse remains steadfast in its insistence on outsourcing circulation. The current proposal calls for enhanced severance. The contract calls for 22 weeks for full-timers. The proposal offers four more weeks, with a minimums of $4,000 for full-timers and $2,000 for part-timers. Also, the company would continue its share of medical insurance during the duration of each employee’s severance payments.

2. GateHouse moved off its demand for salary concessions. The proposal is now at zero.

3. GateHouse has modified its proposal regarding medical insurance. Under the contract, we pay 25 percent. GateHouse had been proposing 45 percent. Now, the proposal is at 35 percent.

4. The vacation switch-over to an earn-as-you-go system has been a point of contention. We believe the change will cost members a year of earned vacation. Under GateHouse’s new proposal, members would retain a half-year of earned vacation.

5. GateHouse has rescinded it’s “island” job-security provision. The new concept involves just three divisions: journalists, news assistants and librarians. This delineation provided far more security for our members, should GateHouse seek layoffs.

6. GateHouse moved the date of expiration from March 1, 2013 to April 1, 2013.

The Guild still has major concerns, the biggest, of course, being the outsourcing of employees. Also, much remains of the original proposal, such as a cutback in mileage reimbursement, from 90 percent to 65 percent of the IRS rate.

Further, we bristle at the notion of an 18-month agreement, as proposed. Though 18-month contracts are common lately at newspaper unions, GateHouse has been insistent about starting the contract essentially when the last one ended, last August. An April termination date would mean that we would have to start preparing for the next round of bargaining right after signing the contract.

There is still much work to be done. So the bargaining team requests two things:

1. Feedback. Please feel free to email (peoriaumg@gmail.com) suggestions or approach any bargaining-team member directly. But please do so asap; we want your input before we next talk to GateHouse. Mind you, the info above is NOT NOT NOT a proposal; those are just bullet points. Still, we would appreciate any feedback you care to offer.

2. We need to continue with our public-information campaign. We continue to seek audiences to hear our message. Regardless of what happens in negotiations, we need to continue to let the public know what is going on with their newspaper.

The next regular Guild meeting is 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 16 at Two25.

Thursday, May 24 is the Gatehouse Media stockholders’ meeting in New York . The Guild is holding a lunchtime rally at the Peoria County Courthouse in downtown Peoria.

Again, the next scheduled bargaining dates are May 30 and June 7.

Unit 86 isn’t alone in its contract struggle with Gatehouse Media.

Our union compañeros at the Canton Repository in Ohio, Local 1 of the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild, are also in the throes of negotiations. They are facing some of the same issues as Unit 86. They’ve started informational picketing outside the newspaper offices.

Here’s a statement from their Facebook page, Save the Repository:

Why Newspaper Guild members at The Repository are picketing April 16-20

The Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild-CWA Local 1 and The Repository are currently in contract negotiations.

The Repository¹s corporate owner, GateHouse Media, wants to change our contract to be able to outsource up to one-fourth of the jobs of Newspaper Guild members, including most of those in the distribution departments.

These are the workers who help get your paper out to be delivered, or bring you a paper if you didn¹t get one for some reason. They also want to be able to outsource jobs in the circulation and advertising support departments. Guild employees, who work in almost every department at The Repository including the newsroom, circulation, advertising, traffic, mailroom, business office, maintenance and mechanical departments, haven¹t had a raise in four years. MEANWHILE, A FEW TOP CORPORATE OFFICERS HAVE RECEIVED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS JUST IN BONUSES IN THOSE FOUR YEARS.

So instead of more money going to workers in Canton, it¹s gone to GateHouse headquarters in Fairport, N.Y. It means that instead of local workers having more money to spend at local businesses ­ a number of which pay to advertise in The Repository ­the money has gone to a few top officers in New York. GateHouse CEO Michael Reed just received an $800,000 bonus, AND had his severance package greatly improved.

Now GateHouse wants to get rid of even more jobs at The Repository. GateHouse will tell you it needs to do it because the newspaper industry is changing. But they won’t tell you ­or The Newspaper Guild ­ how much profit they are making at The Repository. They did tell us in bargaining that they are not claiming an inability to pay.

Actions speak louder than words.

Not giving raises to workers has meant pay cuts for Guild employees, since our members pay about one-fourth of their health care costs, which have gone up every year. Layoffs and attrition since GateHouse took over the paper in late 2006 have resulted in a 25% decrease in the number of Guild-covered jobs at The Repository. Now GateHouse wants to outsource up to 25% more. They say others can do the job more cheaply. At no loss in quality. Do you believe that? We don’t.

Do you think a newspaper that could have not much more than half the employees it had just six years ago would have the same quality it had six years ago? We don’t want to find out.

Repository subscribers deserve better, and so do its workers ­ our members.
We urge The Repository to drop its bargaining proposal to outsource Guild jobs and to reach a fair contract settlement with its Guild employees. We think it’s best for the newspaper, its subscribers and advertisers, the community and our members for Repository employees to keep doing Repository work.

WCBU 89.9 – Outside the Horse Shoe April 10, 2012 – Interview with Unit 86 vice president Chris Kaergard

1470 WMBD Radio – Mayor Agrees Cutting PJS Staff Not Good For Peoria

CINewsNow.com – Ardis calling for fair negotiations between Journal Star and its owners

WGLT Radio – Peoria City Council urges Gatehouse to go easy on Peoria Journal Star staff

PeoriaStory – Union and Peoria take on Wall Street — Can the PJS be saved?

PEORIA NEWSPAPER GUILD radio spot