The Memphis Newspaper Guild announced this morning that its members voted Saturday in favor of a new three-year contract that allows unlimited outsourcing at The Commercial Appeal.
Memphis Newspaper Guild President Daniel Connolly said that even though the union had worked to prevent outsourcing "we faced a situation in which the company could have imposed the outsourcing language on us even if we had voted against the contract. And if we had voted no, the very existence of our union was at risk."
The union did retain the evergreen clause in its contract, which includes some pay raises, and is protected from decertification action for the contract's three-year term.
In a vote postponed from May 8, Guild members approved the contract 43 to 7.
Connolly said Guild leadership recommended voting yes because it gave the union three years to rebuild after spending on legal fees and other costs, which included the hiring of a PR firm. He added that the evergreen provision and decertification protection were important to the union's survival.
"If there is outsourcing," Connolly wrote members, "we will still be able to bargain for the best possible package for those who lose their jobs. We'll have advance notice and may lobby against the action. Anyone who loses a job to outsourcing will receive a small, one-time payment in addition to normal severance that comes from the worker's pension fund."
A no vote would have allowed the newspaper to implement its last offer, and the possible unlimited outsourcing without the other contract benefits would have risked the union's existence, according to Connollly.
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