Bargaining Update

Washington Post Guild Members Picket Newspaper

Braving a snap winter spell, dozens of Washington Post staffers, fellow Newspaper Guild-CWA members and supporters fired up a noon picket-line Tuesday to protest "a lot of terrible take-backs" that Guild leaders said the newspaper's management has thrown on the bargaining table.

Newspaper Guild-CWA members and supporters fired up a picket-line Tuesday to protest "terrible take-backs" being proposed by management at the Washington Post, including an unwarranted proposal to freeze their pension when it is actually overfunded.

"Negotiations are in a really, really tough place," Fred Kunkle, co-chair of the Post unit of the Washington-Baltimore Guild, said. "We're just going to keep mobilizing to make this be a place where we can take a stand for treating workers fairly."

The workers, bundled up in winter coats, hats and scarves against the bitter cold, said management's negotiation stance is unfair to workers. Financial writer Michael Fletcher questioned, for instance, why the Post's management is proposing to freeze pension when it is actually overfunded.

FairPoint Strikers Hold Montpelier Rally and Boston Protest Today

FairPoint strikers are mounting two actions today: a major rally in Montpelier and a delegation of workers and allies in Boston protesting against the telecom company's biggest shareholder.

The 1,700 FairPoint workers of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have been on strike since Oct. 17. Strikers say that damaging cuts the company is seeking would make it impossible for them to provide quality service to their New England customers. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., FairPoint has been struggling since the strike began to maintain its system with replacement workers hired from outside northern New England. On Monday, Vermont's Department of Public Service reported that it has received 271 complaints from FairPoint customers during the strike, a significant increase.

"No matter how far FairPoint executives and shareholders travel, we're going to be there," CWA Local 1400 President Don Trementozzi said. "We will not let this North Carolina company and its Wall Street investors evade their responsibilities to the people of New England."