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Providence Guild Gets Tentative Pact
The Providence Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA Local 31041, reached a tentative agreement with Providence Journal management that provides real improvement in wages, pensions and other benefits. The eight-year agreement is retroactive to January 2000 and expires December 2007.
The settlement marks the end of a nearly four-year fight with newspaper owner Belo Corp., a Dallas based company that owns three other newspapers.
Local union administrator Tim Schick credited an active mobilization campaign, including the support of District 1 CWA members, and local members' determination to win a fair agreement from an employer that was cited by the National Labor Relations Board for 27 labor law violations. A secret ballot ratification is being held.
TNG-CWA members held rallies, contacted advertisers for statements of support, raised their issues publicly at a workers' rights board forum and conducted a media campaign to spotlight newspaper management's demands to cut health care and other benefits.
Local President John Hill said the proposal was a "huge achievement" for TNG, noting that the company was demanding unilateral control over health care and wages, and was "dedicated to wiping us out."
Management's 27 labor law violations and convictions would not be erased, but would be settled in the contract as opposed to waiting for court ordered remedies.
The agreement calls for a wage increase of at least 8 percent over the contract term, plus signing bonuses of $1,000 for members who work at least 22.5 hours per week and $500 for those who work fewer hours. Other improvements include more retirement benefit choices, including the option for current employees to enroll in the parent Belo Corp. pension plan.
On health care, employees will continue to have four choices for coverage; the percentage of premiums paid by employees remains 15 percent, the local said. The agreement also includes language to protect workers from Bush administration efforts to restrict overtime pay by specifying which employees are not eligible for overtime pay.
The settlement marks the end of a nearly four-year fight with newspaper owner Belo Corp., a Dallas based company that owns three other newspapers.
Local union administrator Tim Schick credited an active mobilization campaign, including the support of District 1 CWA members, and local members' determination to win a fair agreement from an employer that was cited by the National Labor Relations Board for 27 labor law violations. A secret ballot ratification is being held.
TNG-CWA members held rallies, contacted advertisers for statements of support, raised their issues publicly at a workers' rights board forum and conducted a media campaign to spotlight newspaper management's demands to cut health care and other benefits.
Local President John Hill said the proposal was a "huge achievement" for TNG, noting that the company was demanding unilateral control over health care and wages, and was "dedicated to wiping us out."
Management's 27 labor law violations and convictions would not be erased, but would be settled in the contract as opposed to waiting for court ordered remedies.
The agreement calls for a wage increase of at least 8 percent over the contract term, plus signing bonuses of $1,000 for members who work at least 22.5 hours per week and $500 for those who work fewer hours. Other improvements include more retirement benefit choices, including the option for current employees to enroll in the parent Belo Corp. pension plan.
On health care, employees will continue to have four choices for coverage; the percentage of premiums paid by employees remains 15 percent, the local said. The agreement also includes language to protect workers from Bush administration efforts to restrict overtime pay by specifying which employees are not eligible for overtime pay.