Indy Guild Wants Members to Wear Red at Publisher Meeting

By: Joe Strupp The Indianapolis Newspaper Guild, which overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer from The Indianapolis Star two weeks ago, is asking members to show up in force and wear red during a meeting Thursday with Publisher Michael Kane.

In an e-mail to members Wednesday, Guild President Tom Spalding stated: "The Guild officers and stewards understand that, for whatever reason, we have members who have not felt comfortable showing their support for the Guild by wearing lanyards or displaying signs on their desks in the newsroom. But after seven months of contract negotiations in which the company has refused to negotiate and has presented progressively worse proposals at the bargaining table, after two weeks of unpaid furloughs, after three rounds of layoffs in less than a year in which the company disregarded the seniority provisions of our contract, there comes a time when you have to show the company which side you are on. This is one of those times."

The call for unity also follows last week's companywide layoffs of some 1,400 employees by parent company Gannett. Those resulted in the loss of 14 guild members at the Star, including guild secretary Sylvia Halladay. Spalding has said contract talks are continuing, but no new agreement has been put forth.

Spalding's entire e-mail follows.

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To all Guild members:

We are asking all members to show their support for the Guild during
contract negotiations by going as a group to Thursday's employee
meetings with publisher Michael Kane. If possible, we would like all
members to attend the 4 p.m. meeting. That is when day and night shift members along with building services personnel all will be in the
building. Wear your Guild lanyards, your Guild hats, or something red
to show your support.

We will begin assembling at 3:55 p.m. at Guild president Tom
Spalding's desk in the business department. For those coming from the zones, the business department is on the second floor of the Star
building and to the right past the mailboxes as you exit the employee
entrance elevators. At 4 p.m. we will all take the stairs down to the
meeting room in the basement, file in and sit together as a group.

The Guild officers and stewards understand that, for whatever reason,
we have members who have not felt comfortable showing their support for the Guild by wearing lanyards or displaying signs on their desks in the newsroom. But after seven months of contract negotiations in which the company has refused to negotiate and has presented progressively worse proposals at the bargaining table, after two weeks of unpaid furloughs, after three rounds of layoffs in less than a year in which the company disregarded the seniority provisions of our contract, there comes a time when you have to show the company which side you are on. This is one of those times.

The Guild will be compiling questions for the Q&A session that will
follow Kane's presentation. If you have a question you would like
asked, send it to the Guild in a response to this e-mail.

Finally, the Guild executive committee has appointed steward Adam
Yates to temporarily fill in as the Guild secretary in place of Sylvia
Halladay, who was one of the employees laid off July 8 and 9. We are
seeking volunteers to fill the remainder of her term, which expires in
July 2010. If you are interested, or would like to become involved as
a Guild steward, contact Tom Spalding or any officer or steward.

In solidarity,
The Guild officers and stewards