Akron Guild Contract Talks Include Bonus Offers, Strike Votes

By: Joe Strupp As negotiators for the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild and the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal near one year of contract talks without a resolution, both sides are raising the stakes. While the paper is offering each Guild member a $1,500 bonus if the current contract offer is accepted by June 5, union members recently authorized a strike and plan to withhold bylines in protest next week.

"It was in direct response to the company's final offer, which we got May 13, and we felt was a direct attempt to get rid of the union," Guild unit chair Stephanie Warsmith said about the strike vote. "We wanted to send a strong response back."

Management's last offer is a four-year agreement that includes no raise the first year and a 1% pay hike each of the following three years. In addition, the paper would increase each Guild member's share of health care premiums, from 14% to 22% for single employees and 30% for those under the family plan.

"We were expecting to take on higher health car costs, but we find it troubling," Warsmith said. She said the union is asking for a four-year contract with a 4% annual pay increase. The Guild's last contract, a three-year deal with 3% annual raises, ended in August 2003.

Beacon-Journal spokeswoman Rita Kelly Madick said the health care cost increases would bring Guild members up to the same percentages paid by the paper's other employees, most of whom are represented by four other unions. She also said the paper has offered to boost its merit pay system in exchange for the lower guaranteed salaries. "We have some amazing employees in the newsroom, and we want to be able to reward them," she said about the need for a merit pay approach.

Madick also pointed out that Guild members would get a smaller signing bonus, of $900, if they ratified the contract after June 5.

Out of more than 700 employees at the Beacon Journal, 130 are represented by the guild. Since 2001, the editorial ranks have dwindled by 35, according to union and management officials, due to layoffs, buyouts and early retirements.

Another sticking point is a management request to remove a contract provision that bars the paper from using freelancers on certain key beats. Union leaders say that's a way to lower costs and cut jobs, while breaking the union. Madick disagreed, saying "we have no intention of replacing city hall or the school beat. We want to be able to have more free use of correspondents."

Negotiations began in June 2003 and have continued on a semi-regular basis, according to negotiators. A federal mediator has been used in two negotiating sessions, and will be present for the next bargaining talks on June 10.

Guild members plan to withhold bylines on all stories from May 30 to June 5.

No strike date has been set and neither side believes any walkout would occur soon. However, both remain cautious. "We have been struggling to get answers," said Warsmith. "We want to know why these huge, sweeping changes are necessary."

Madick called the current situation "serious" but said a contract is more likely than a strike. "I don't think we need to talk in terms of a strike," she said. "The Guild has been here since the '50s, and we have never not been able to settle."

Guild members a the paper did support a Teamsters strike in 1974, but have never struck on their own.