East Bay Guild Unit Ratifies First Contract

TNG-CWA members at newspapers in California's Bay Area News Group-East Bay unit have overwhelmingly ratified a first contract that was negotiated with owner MediaNews over the past year.

"This is a really happy conclusion to a long struggle on the part of a lot of people," said Sara Steffens, until recently unit chair of the BANG-East Bay.

Steffens, one of the union's chief organizers, was also one of 29 people — mostly Guild supporters — who were laid off shortly after the unit's election victory in June 2008.

The negotiations also were complicated by the drastic economic downturn in the newspaper industry, which has led to layoffs, pay cuts and benefit losses around the country. 

"We didn't get everything we wanted, but we think this proposal is a strong starting point to build our future relationship with the company," said Steffens. "There are some things in this contract that nobody's had before at BANG-East Bay."

The 18-month agreement for the 180-member unit provides for basic job protections, grievance and arbitration and guaranteed severance and overtime rights for employees. It also sets a wage floor that ensures that no full-time journalist on staff is paid less than $39,000 a year.

In a letter to members, the bargaining team acknowledged the hard times at their Bay Area publications and throughout the newspaper industry.

"Across the nation, newsrooms are being wracked by layoffs, pay cuts and benefits losses," the bargaining team said. "We recognize our company's real need to address its financial challenges, without abandoning our mandate to do all we can to preserve quality and improve stability in our newsrooms. We believe this tentative agreement is our best bet at doing just that."