By: E&P Staff Union mailers at the Boston Globe have ratified a five-year contract that provides no raises, lowers the existing wages for some workers and sets lower pay scale for future employees, the newspaper said.
The Globe estimates the agreement will provide total cost savings of about $3 million a year, or $9.6 million over the remainder of the contract. About 25% of those savings, or $2.6 million, will be paid into the union health fund, it said.
The Globe will also make one-time lump sum payments of $540 per grandfathered eligible journeyman into health care accounts for three years beginning in 2009.
The agreement -- retroactive to Jan. 1, 2006, and expiring on Dec. 31, 2010 -- was ratified by a vote of 112 to 69.
Under the new contract, eligible union members in the mailroom may get bonuses of up to $450 annually "provided the Globe's revenue exceeds prior year revenue levels," the newspaper said. However, no bonus payments will be paid out for either 2006 or 2007.
"The new wage structure is designed to significantly reduce the Globe's current costs as well as make the overall wage rate structure more competitive with the marketplace for the Globe's daily and Sunday insert business," the Globe said.
The contract also allows for the hiring of former composing room employees with job guarantees into mailroom positions.
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