By: Joe Strupp The Indianapolis News Guild overwhelmingly rejected a two-year contract offer from The Indianapolis Star that would have included a 12% pay cut, no pay increases for at least two years, and the elimination of arbitration on individual layoffs.
A notice issued by the Guild said the vote Tuesday was a lopsided 97-9 tally against the offer. But guild leaders sounded optimistic, stating in the notice: "Because this was not a last, final offer the union bargaining team looks forward to resuming negotiations with representatives of Gannett and reaching a deal that is acceptable to both the company and to the journalists and building services workers committed to making the Indianapolis Star the best it can be."
The rejection occurred as word spread of plans by parent company Gannett to layoff at least 1,000 employees companywide, but no formal numbers have been specified.
The rejected contract included an 8% salary cut as of July 1, with another 4% to take effect Oct. 1. It also added that seniority must be considered for layoffs, but would not be the only criteria.
In addition, it addressed the issue of editorial employees writing advertorials, which has been a concern for some Star employees. It added language to allow flexibility to assign guild members "traditional and non-traditional tasks." But it also noted "the company's current ethics policy does not allow editorial employees to produce advertorial copy.'"
No new negotiations have been scheduled.
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