Tag Archives: Job Security

BARGAINING: Guild proposes counter on job security

The News Media Guild introduced a new counter-proposal on job security for the editorial unit Thursday in bargaining with The Associated Press.

The Guild negotiating team has worked closely with the union’s attorney on this counter-proposal and the bargainers believe it addresses company concerns while also preserving the job security of senior workers. The AP reviewed the counter-proposal Thursday and discussions continue on one issue.

Here are the key points of the proposal:

Employees will be placed in organizational units, similar to verticals. They are: Broadcast (which includes BNC), Business News, Digital News (which includes Nerve Center and News Research), Entertainment News, Global Enterprise (which includes Global Investigations), Health & Science News, International News, News Operations (which includes Data Center), News Support (which includes non-editorial jobs), Photos, Sports News, Religion News, US News and Washington News.
Layoffs would occur within an organizational unit in a business location. Just like current language, you can’t bump somebody in another city.
The company would still be required to offer buyouts within an organizational unit at a business location before laying people off.
Layoffs within an organizational unit would be based on seniority. If the affected person has seniority over someone with the same job title in a different organizational unit in the same bureau, he or she could bump them if the senior worker can demonstrate that they’re qualified to do the new job. The proposal defines “qualifications and skills” as being professionally competent in the subject matter of the position and being able to use the software and equipment required for the new job.
Under the language, an employee is automatically deemed competent in the subject matter of his or her organizational unit. (For example, a newsperson in sports is automatically qualified for the other sports newsperson jobs in his or her bureau.) If an employee outside of the US News organizational unit has done general news assignments within the past five years, he or she is automatically deemed competent in US News, which is by far the largest organizational unit. If it’s been longer than five years, than that person would still get the US News job if he or she has the skills to do it.
If an employee transfers into a different organizational unit (which would require a job posting), he or she would still be deemed competent to do the work of the previous organizational unit, as well as the new one. This is the one sticking point with AP as the company wants to set a five-year limit on this.
If a senior employee at risk of layoff has not received training on equipment or software that others in the bureau have received, then the senior employee is entitled to a four-week training period. The AP also agrees to provide a mentor or coach for the employee during the training period.
Severance pay remains unchanged in most circumstances (two weeks of pay for each year of service plus one additional week) but would increase for some people. If an employee is the only person in an organizational unit in a business location, he or she would be entitled to extra severance pay just like solo correspondents are. That extra severance is: four weeks of pay for fewer than five years of service; eight weeks of pay for fewer than 10 years of service; 10 weeks of pay for fewer than 15 years of service; and 12 weeks of pay for 15 or more years of service.

Representing the AP were senior vice president Jessica Bruce, attorney Steve Macri and deputy managing editor David Scott.

Representing the Guild were Jill Bleed of Little Rock, Vin Cherwoo of New York Sports, and administrator Kevin Keane.

Bargaining resumes Sept. 25.

BARGAINING: AP advances revised wage offer as package deal; Guild rejects

The Associated Press on Wednesday revised upward its wages proposal, but said the News Media Guild needed to accept its proposals to modify how moving expenses are paid as well as wholesale changes to the job security language.

On wages, the AP proposed: a 1.5 percent increase on the date of ratification; an $800 lump sum on Dec. 1, 2018; a 1.5 percent increase on Nov. 1, 2019; and a 1.5 percent increase on Dec. 1, 2020. The AP proposal would set an expiration date of Sept. 30, 2021, for the contract.

The proposal is a slight increase from the company’s most recent counter offer in May.

The Guild rejected the proposal.

AP Executive Editor Sally Buzbee joined negotiators at the table Wednesday. She praised the work of AP employees, particularly the recent coverage on immigration as well as Guild member Jon Lemire’s questioning of President Donald Trump in Helsinki.

“We’ve been so thrilled lately at the work that our U.S. staff is doing. The last couple of weeks have just been so inspiring in so many ways,” she said.

The Guild negotiators told AP management that it agrees the bargaining unit members are doing extraordinary work _ but that it is demoralizing and insulting to receive wage and insurance proposals that amount to a pay cut.

The Guild team also told AP that its health insurance proposal would likely drive out employees, especially those with family plans. Now, a family premium plan that covers an employee, spouse and children costs the employee $409 in health insurance premiums. AP wants that number to rise to $764 per month by 2021.

AP said its managers are paying 20 percent of the cost of health insurance so Guild-covered employees should do the same.

The AP responded that the media industry is still “disrupted” and that tough business decisions must be made to ensure the company’s long-term sustainability and success.

Also Wednesday, the company said it was unwilling to move on its previous proposal on moving expenses that would give employees a lump sum rather than reimbursement for the actual costs incurred. That lump sum payment would cap at $14,000, although some previous expenses ran well beyond that. It would set a $5,000 minimum.

The Guild has previously received details of moving expenses involving two dozen employees over the past few years. Seven people were reimbursed for moving expenses of $5,000 or less, while 17 people incurred more than $5,000 in moving expenses. Of that same group, nine people had expenses above the $14,000 maximum that would be allowed under AP’s proposal. The highest reported reimbursement for moving costs was more than $44,000.

On job security, the AP said it wants the Guild to accept its most recent proposal. The Guild has shown its willingness to create organizational units, but said senior employees must be able to exercise seniority rights in another organizational unit (in the same bureau) if he or she has past experience doing that work.

Bargaining resumes Thursday.

Representing the Guild were Jill Bleed of Little Rock, Vin Cherwoo of New York Sports, technician Dave Herron of Seattle, and Guild administrator Kevin Keane.

Representing the AP were: Sally Buzbee, executive editor; Jessica Bruce, senior vice president for human resources and corporate communications; Brian Carovillano, managing editor; and Steve Macri, AP’s attorney.

BARGAINING: Guild, AP continue discussions of coverage, job security

Negotiators with the News Media Guild met with The Associated Press bargaining team this week for ongoing contract talks. Job security and who’s covered by the bargaining unit dominated the discussions.

Representing the Guild were: Jill Bleed of Little Rock, Vin Cherwoo of New York Sports, technician Ed Morsett of Denver and Guild administrator Kevin Keane.

Representing the AP were: Jessica Bruce, senior vice president for human resources and corporate communications; Brian Carovillano, managing editor; David Scott, deputy managing editor; and Steve Macri, AP’s attorney.

Here is an update on some of the issues still outstanding:

JOB SECURITY

AP this week introduced changes to its job security proposal intended to address some of the Guild’s concerns. The proposal still places employees into different organizational units, with the majority of Guild-covered staff part of U.S. News. AP has said that in the event of a layoff, a senior employee will be deemed qualified to do the work within his or her organizational unit within the business location. That means a newsperson in U.S. News working in New York City would be deemed qualified for all newsperson work in U.S. News in New York City for example, and could exercise seniority rights in the event of a layoff.

The company says an exception would exist if an employee is unable to utilize existing technology performed by a less senior person in the affected job category. If an employee in the organizational unit received technology training that was not offered to the affected employee, the company would provide four weeks of training before a decision could be made on qualifications and skills.

The proposal creates a number of organizational units involving specialized work, like health and science, religion, and enterprise/investigations, to name a few. The Guild has argued that employees who work in those units should be able to exercise seniority rights within the much larger U.S. News unit in the event of layoffs if they are able to do the work. This week, AP agreed and said that if an employee had previously worked as a general newsperson within five years of the layoff date, he or she is deemed qualified to do U.S. News work and can exercise seniority there. For example, if an employee worked as a general assignment reporter within the past five years and was then promoted to a religion writer, he or she could still exercise seniority rights within US News in his or her bureau during a layoff.

The Guild says it must be provided with a list of all employees viewed as general newsperson and those who are not. Talks will continue on the job security article.

COVERAGE

The coverage article of the contract determines which jobs are Guild-covered and which are management. AP gave a revised version this week intended to reflect the management reorganization now in progress. The Guild has suggested changes to limit some of the language but is still reviewing the proposal in full.

SALARY AND HEALTH INSURANCE

The past few contract talks have focused entirely on job security with no discussions or changes to salary and health insurance proposals. The Guild negotiating team still believes that the AP proposals of massive health insurance increases coupled with nominal raises are unacceptable.

DIFFERENTIALS

The Guild is still seeking economic differentials for Miami and Seattle, as well as a weekend differential for work on Saturdays.

SEVERANCE PAY

There have been no discussions to decrease or substantially change severance. However, this article remains open because some employees could qualify for more severance pay under the job security proposal, and the Guild team expects to resolve this alongside job security.

OLYMPICS OVERTIME

The AP still wants to limit the amount of overtime it pays to employees working international sporting events. The company has modified its proposal to remove military maneuvers. It has also proposed limiting overtime only for travel time to and from the United States to the sporting event. Overtime would still be paid once employees arrive in the country to cover the events.

MOVING EXPENSES

AP wants to pay employees lump sums for moving expenses rather than reimbursing for actual expenses incurred during a move.

The company’s revised proposal calls for: a $5,000 lump sum, an additional $5,000 if the sale of a primary residence is required, an additional $2,000 for the relocation of a child or children and an additional $2,000 for the relocation of a spouse, or a maximum of $14,000.

The Guild has told AP that those amounts are too low and some employees would lose money under the proposal.

NEXT STEPS

Bargaining will resume July 18. The Guild bargaining team would to remind colleagues that more members give negotiators a stronger voice and more leverage at the table. A sign-up card can be printed out here.

BARGAINING: Guild, AP continue discussion of job security

Bargainers with the News Media Guild and The Associated Press met Wednesday for continued discussions on job security.

The AP presented a new counter proposal on job security in response to the Guild’s previously expressed concerns. The Guild bargaining team is still reviewing the counter proposal.

A significant change in the AP proposal deals with when an employee can bump a worker in a different organizational unit. Before, an employee would have to have past experience working in that unit to displace another worker during a staff reduction. Under the new proposal, the senior employee does not need past experience in the unit but does need to demonstrate that he or she has the qualifications and skills to do the work.

The AP proposal also adopts the Guild’s plan to offer enhanced severance pay if the company lays off the only member of an organizational unit in a bureau. That enhanced severance pay would mirror what is currently available to solo correspondents.

Representing the Guild were Jill Bleed of Little Rock, Vin Cherwoo of New York Sports, technician Ed Morsett of Denver and administrator Kevin Keane.

Representing the AP were: Jessica Bruce, senior vice president for human resources and corporate communications; David Scott, deputy managing editor; and Steve Macri, AP’s attorney.

Bargaining will resume June 20.

BARGAINING: Guild advances counter-proposal on job security

The News Media Guild and The Associated Press met Tuesday for more contract negotiations on job security.

The Guild advanced a counter-proposal on job security to the AP. Here is how the Guild proposal compares to current language in the contract:

WHAT’S THE SAME:

-There are no changes to how an employee’s years of service are measured. For example, a 30-year employee will still have credit for 30 years of service.

-A senior employee cannot displace another employee who works in another business location (i.e. a different bureau, city or state).

-In smaller bureaus where all employees work in the same department and report to the same manager, the process for layoffs is largely unchanged from the current contract.

-AP must continue to pay severance to laid-off workers, including extra severance for solo correspondents. The dollar amount of severance does not decrease and in some cases, would increase.

-Layoffs must still occur in reverse order of seniority, beginning with the least-senior employee.

-Under most circumstances, AP must still solicit volunteers to take buyouts before laying someone off. If more than one person volunteers, the more-senior employee would get the buyout.

WHAT’S DIFFERENT:

-The Guild proposal adopts the AP concept of organizational units, which would, essentially, create more verticals. The majority of Guild-covered employees would be part of U.S. News. Essentially, if an employee works under the regional desk system (Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix), then he or she is part of U.S. News.

The other organizational units are: International News, Washington News, Global Enterprise (including Global Investigations), Sports News, Business News, Health and Science News, Entertainment News, Religion News, News Operations (including the Spokane Data Center), Digital News (which includes Nerve Center and News Research), Broadcast, and Photos.

-AP would conduct layoffs within the organizational unit within the business location – for example, choosing to lay off the least-senior person in Health and Science in Chicago. However, under the Guild proposal, that person could claim a seniority right to displace a junior person in another organizational unit in Chicago if the senior employee has previous experience in that unit, and the skills and qualifications to do the work. The Guild believes this proposal addresses AP concerns about current operations, while still preserving job security because employees could exercise seniority rights in other organizational units.

-AP must still solicit volunteers for a buyout if the company determines a reduction in force is necessary. However, the AP could deny a volunteer’s offer if he or she is the only person in the organizational unit in the bureau with the skills and qualifications to do the remaining work.

-Both the Guild and AP proposals call for a training period. This occurs if a senior employee scheduled for layoff hasn’t received training that was previously provided to a junior employee in the same organizational unit in the same bureau. The AP proposal calls for a four-week training period and the Guild proposal calls for an eight-week training period. Under the Guild proposal, an employee facing a layoff could decline the training period, take the layoff, and receive an additional 12 weeks of severance pay.

-The Guild proposal also calls for additional severance pay if AP lays off an employee who is the only person in their organizational unit in their bureau. The Guild proposal would extend to them the same extra severance available to solo correspondents: four weeks of pay for fewer than five years of service; eight weeks of pay for five years to fewer than 10 years of service; 10 weeks of pay for 10 years to fewer than 15 years of service; and 12 weeks of pay for 15 years of service or more.

(For reference, the regular severance pay for everyone is: two weeks of pay for the first six months of service, plus two weeks of pay for each year of service up to a maximum of 72 weeks.)

-The Guild, responding to an earlier AP proposal, also included language regarding employment discrimination cases. The proposal says that an employee can’t simultaneously pursue a discrimination case through arbitration if he or she has also filed an employment lawsuit or a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The case could go to arbitration once the charge or lawsuit has been adjudicated.

Bargaining will resume Wednesday.

Representing the Guild were: Jill Bleed of Little Rock, Vin Cherwoo of New York Sports, technician Ed Morsett of Denver and administrator Kevin Keane.

Representing the AP were: Jessica Bruce, senior vice president for human resources and corporate communications; David Scott, deputy managing editor; and Steve Macri, AP’s attorney.