'Lexington Herald-Leader' Guild Voting On New Contract

By: Joe Strupp A Newspaper Guild battle over a new contract at the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, which has ranged from union radio ads attacking management to a publisher's letter criticizing the guild, may be nearing an end.

The 100 members of the Lexington Newspaper Guild, who have been without a contract for more than a year, are voting today on a new five-year agreement, according to guild president Brandon Ortiz.

Citing an agreement with management not to reveal details of the proposal until after the vote, Ortiz declined to offer specifics. But he said the guild is urging members to ratify the contract that was agreed to following a Jan. 19 meeting with a federal mediator.

"This is something we can live with," Ortiz said of the proposal. "We are not entirely happy with it, but both sides can live with it. We think it is the best we can get."

During negotiations, Ortiz said the two sides were not at odds over salary or overtime or other common contract disagreements. He said the talks had stalled over two requests by the paper: to allow management the right to cut days off and reduce health benefits for part-time workers.??

"We met with the company and the federal mediator and we were able to reach a resolution on those issues," Ortiz said. He declined to say if the contract proposal includes a salary increase or other significant pay structure changes.

The agreement, which will be voted on through 8:30 p.m., follows a year of bitter negotiations that included guild protests and rallies, including one that was recorded and placed on YouTube.com. The video showed picketing members and bullhorn-toting union leaders, including Linda Foley, president of the national Newspaper Guild and a former Herald-Leader staffer.??

Publisher Timothy Kelly took the fight public at one point in December, publishing a letter to readers on the front of the metro section.

The letter, published Dec. 9, stated, among other things, that: "We offer a generous health care plan that allows part-time employees who average as few as 20 hours per week to pay the same health care rates as full-time employees. We also offer very generous paid time-off and short-term disability benefits. Full-time employees with the most tenure have 31 paid time-off days and seven holidays each year. Not many newspapers can say the same."??

Ortiz had said that the letter offended guild leaders, adding at the time that: "he essentially accused us of lying."

??Kelly's column also pointed to a guild ad campaign, which included a week's worth of radio ads that criticized management. The publisher wrote, "not only are the company?s positions being misrepresented but...the union appears bent on trying to damage the image of the Herald-Leader and [parent company] McClatchy in the community."

??Ortiz said that such tough negotiations "had never happened before" at the paper, but believed the final agreement would prove worthwhile.

Kelly on Tuesday said, "we are looking forward to having the guild members ratify the contract and go on about our business." He also believed the "unusually difficult" negotiations could b overcome with "what we believe is a fair agreement."