Kentucky Guild Reaches Out to Community in Health Care Fight

Fed up with management's refusal to budge on health care and sick pay rollbacks, members of The Newspaper Guild-CWA at the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky launched an ad campaign and turned out in force for a rally and march Wednesday to take their message to the community.

Even though the union's contract expired 11 months ago, Local 33229 President Brandon Ortiz said talks had been going relatively well recently – until it was clear that the company, under new out-of-state ownership, was refusing to back down on demands that could eliminate health care benefits for part-time workers and overhaul sick leave policies.

"We're bewildered that they would hold up a contract over these two issues," Ortiz said. The local represents 80 newsroom workers, including reporters, photographers and copy editors.

The paper is owned by the McClatchy Co., a large California-based newspaper group, which bought it as part of its purchase of the Knight Ridder chain in June 2006. The union is making sure community members know how handsomely corporate executives profited from the deal: nearly $2 million in bonuses last year for McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt and nearly $60 million for Knight Ridder executives.

The union's campaign, which includes a CWA-sponsored radio ad, billboards and a community petition that readers can sign online, explains that the drive to slash health care and sick pay benefits contradicts the long-standing position of the Herald-Leader's editorial page in favor of universal health care and economic justice.

Readers can sign a petition on the site and send a personal message to Herald-Leader management. Ortiz said workers are already getting strong support, with a state representative, local labor leaders and other community members joining the workers for Wedneday's rally and march to the newspaper building. Speakers included TNG-CWA President Linda Foley, who began her newspaper career at the Herald-Leader as a copy editor.