NEWSROOM ISSUES
Seniority Lists
The Company wanted to abolish seniority throughout the newsrooms.
Under the tentative agreement, strict seniority based on date of hire remains in place for editors, copy editors, artists, editorial assistants and photographers.
There are separate seniority lists for what we used to call suburban photographers and main unit photographers.
(In the new contract, Main Unit writers and photographers would be referenced as Group 1 writers and photographers.) Former suburban photographers and writers will be referenced as Group 2 writers and photographers.)
They will have separate pay scale grids and separate seniority/layoff groups.
Seniority Carve-Out
The Company changed its carve-outs on seniority – only regarding writers -- and agreed to expanded bumping rights for senior employees.
The carve-outs were written by Inquirer Editor Bill Marimow and Daily News Editor Michael Days.
Bear in mind that the editors don’t have to use these carve-outs and may decide that straight seniority is the best way to go in a layoff situation.
They are as follows:
For the Inquirer:
Harrisburg Statehouse Bureau beat reporters
Trenton Statehouse Bureau beat reporters
City Hall Bureau beat reporters
Phillies beat reporter
Eagles beat reporter
Flyers beat reporter
Sixers beat reporter
Pennsylvania political beat reporter
New Jersey political beat reporter
Federal Court beat reporter
City education beat reporter
Higher Education beat reporter
Suburban Education beat reporter
Regional Development beat reporters
Pharmaceutical industry beat reporter
Public Health beat reporter
Online Breaking News beat reporter
College Basketball news beat reporters
Local sports columnists
Metro columnists
Restaurant critic
Classical music critic
Fashion columnist
For the Daily News:
Phillies beat reporters
Eagles beat reporter
Flyers beat reporter
Sixers beat reporter
College sports beat reporters
High School sports beat reporter
Crime/Public Safety beat reporters
City Hall beat reporters
Education beat reporters
Politics beat reporters
Federal Court beat reporter
District Court beat reporter
Local sports columnists
Local city columnists.
The new carve-out language, which would replace what is currently in Article 27.4 in our contract, would say:
In the case of a reduction in force, employees who have been regularly assigned to one of the following positions at the Philadelphia Inquirer and/or Daily News for at least one year may be retained in such jobs despite their having less seniority than other employees who are in the same Article 27.2 group. If a senior member of the bargaining unit who had been regularly assigned to one or more of these jobs for at least one year at the Inquirer and/or Daily News is proposed for dismissal in a reduction in force s/he may bump a junior incumbent in that position with the approval of the Editor for the respective publication.
Ratios
Through attrition or cyclical layoffs, the Company wanted to get rid of Group 1 reporters and photographers, referring to them in contract documents as “Legacy Main Unit” employees. Their eventual ratio of Group 1 to Group 2 workers would stand at 0:1.
Under the old contract, the ratio was 1:2.25 in the suburbs and only at the Inquirer.
Under the tentative agreement, we are guaranteed a 3:2 ratio of Group 1 to Group 2 jobs.
From what we’ve been able to tell from talking with other unions at the papers, we believe we are the only union to hold onto its top tier of jobs. Other unions will see their top job tiers eliminated through attrition over time.
Call Back
Under the old contract, the employer was obligated to give employees first crack at their old jobs for a two-year period. The Company wanted to reduce that to six months.
The tentative agreement has a one-year call back provision.
The new contract gives employees more protections from the Company doing that than currently exist.
A few members have asked whether they could be laid off from their Group 1 job and replaced by a Group 2 hire. The Company cannot replace that laid-off person with a Group 2. In a layoff, the Company is declaring that the work can no longer be done and therefore, cannot replace a laid off Group 1 with a Group 2. If they try, the must abide by the one-year recall.
Group 2 Reporters and Photographers
The Company wanted to keep them at a 40-hour work week, and a 9-hour work day with an unpaid hour for lunch and keep them at lesser benefits than their Group 1 colleagues. Under the tentative agreement, Group 2 employees will work 37.5 hours a week and 7.5 hours a day, like most Guild members. The group also gained the same car allowance, bereavement leave and severance pay that other newsroom members have.
Combining Newsroom Functions
At first glance, the Company proposal on combining newsroom functions sounds scary. It certainly appears to open the door to allowing the Company to send, say, one reporter to cover an Eagles game for both papers. It appears to give them a green light to eliminating the Daily News, which would be a disaster not just for the people who work there but for anybody who cares about Philadelphia having two strong, independent and competitive newspapers.
The reality, as the federal mediator pointed out, is that the Company had this right all along under the old contract.
Further, across the bargaining table, the Company used the library as an example of the sort of combined function it had in mind. Agate listings were also mentioned.
While it's true that, theoretically, some layoffs could result from combining certain functions, we retained our right to negotiate any negative impact such moves would have on members.
The Company owns two distinct brands in the Inquirer and Daily News. And while it would certainly be a mistake to assume anything, given the Company’s performance to this point, the fact is that the Company was willing to carry forward Side Letter U in the new contract. The relevant section of that reads: "Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. recognizes the Philadelphia Daily News as an integral part of its business concern in the Delaware Valley. . .The company agrees to continue to publish and print the Philadelphia Daily News in viable form for the term of this Agreement."
The SWPs – Suburban Writers and Photographers
The Guild entered into contract negotiations with the goal of moving the 22 (now 21 with the recent death of Louise Harbach) SWP employees into the Main Unit contract at Main Unit wages. We did not achieve wage parity for the SWPs but did secure all of the other economic benefits of the Main Unit for them.
The benefits gained include a 37.5 hour work week, down from 40 hours, and the $50 weekly car allowance.
Another significant gain was severance, which SWPs don’t currently qualify for. SWPs will be eligible for up to 40 weeks of pay depending on length of service. Group 2 employees will no longer have any restrictions on where they will work but, unlike the current SWPs, will not receive a pay differential when they work in Camden or Philadelphia. (The current SWPs will continue to be eligible for that differential.) The company has also agreed to close the $35 weekly gap on the SWPs’ health and welfare diversion. SWPs also will receive the accrued sick leave benefit of up to 40 weeks instead of the current 7 weeks.