CONTRACT DEAL REACHED!
Dear Guild Friends,
We have a deal!! (No sense burying the lede.)
And it is the best contract the Guild has reached with The Inquirer in at least 20 years.
So put away those picket signs and get ready to vote!
The deal we have reached must first be reviewed by the NewsGuild-CWA contracts committee in Washington. I have directed now part-time D.C.-area resident Jon Lai to egg their windows if they give us any trouble with it.
But seriously, because that group has to give the ok before we can proceed with a ratification vote, we cannot give specifics at this time.
What we can say is that it is a three-year contract that comes with economic improvements each year, increases in parental and sick leave, holds the line on your weekly health care costs, makes commitments to DEI initiatives, and gives the company what it needs in flexibility on exempt employees occasionally doing “Guild work” while not jeopardizing Guild members, their work, their pay or their professional development opportunities.
We’ll give you the specifics as soon as we get the approval we need from Washington, but for now join me and my bad-ass comrades on the bargaining committee Amy Rosenberg, Jon Lai and Bill Ross in rejoicing in a deal that we can all be proud of, a deal that recognizes what you all do here is of value.
We’re glad the company recognized that.
Thank you for your patience in not getting a whole lot of info throughout this process and for your trust in letting the four of us represent your interests.
Special thanks, also, to the members of the Black Caucus and the Parental Caucus for the impactful and informative presentations they made to the company that led to gains in this contract.
As I like to remind you all, the Guild is all of you, not just the elected officers. And that was on full display during this bargaining process.
We will be back to you hopefully in a week or two with contract specifics and the date for a Zoom membership meeting to answer any questions. That will be followed the next day by electronic voting.
Until then,
In solidarity,
Diane
