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Baltimore Sun Workers OK Contract
A week after voting to authorize a strike if necessary, members of The Newspaper Guild-CWA Local 32035 at the Baltimore Sun strongly yet angrily ratified a four-year contract June 24, two hours before their previous contract expired.
Members voted 319 to 102 in favor of the pact, but also voted to release the following statement: "The Guild-member employees of The Baltimore Sun accept this contract under bitter protest and condemn Tribune Co. for its demeaning and destructive conduct, for negotiating in bad faith, and for hiring scabs to replace loyal Sun workers."
The Chicago-based Tribune Co. had brought in replacement workers from other company newspapers and was ready to put them to work June 25 had Sun workers rejected the contract and walked out. Reporters, photographers and artists had already launched a byline strike, withholding their names from their work to protest the company's refusal to budge on issues of job security and other matters critical to Guild members.
Ultimately, the union won some protections in its fight to save quality jobs, including moving the company away from proposals to eliminate seniority on layoffs and the union security provision.
Members will receive a $1,500 signing bonus. The contract freezes wages for the first year but provides a mix of annual and merit raises the following three years, including a $24-a-week raise for all employees in the second year.
"The members were presented with a final offer and a difficult choice. They chose to accept the offer," TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said. "But Sun management also made a choice about how they approached these negotiations. That approach has done substantial harm to the Sun's relationship with its employees. It's a choice they will regret as time goes on."
Members voted 319 to 102 in favor of the pact, but also voted to release the following statement: "The Guild-member employees of The Baltimore Sun accept this contract under bitter protest and condemn Tribune Co. for its demeaning and destructive conduct, for negotiating in bad faith, and for hiring scabs to replace loyal Sun workers."
The Chicago-based Tribune Co. had brought in replacement workers from other company newspapers and was ready to put them to work June 25 had Sun workers rejected the contract and walked out. Reporters, photographers and artists had already launched a byline strike, withholding their names from their work to protest the company's refusal to budge on issues of job security and other matters critical to Guild members.
Ultimately, the union won some protections in its fight to save quality jobs, including moving the company away from proposals to eliminate seniority on layoffs and the union security provision.
Members will receive a $1,500 signing bonus. The contract freezes wages for the first year but provides a mix of annual and merit raises the following three years, including a $24-a-week raise for all employees in the second year.
"The members were presented with a final offer and a difficult choice. They chose to accept the offer," TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said. "But Sun management also made a choice about how they approached these negotiations. That approach has done substantial harm to the Sun's relationship with its employees. It's a choice they will regret as time goes on."