New Short Contract Ends Blethen Maine Labor Battle

By: Joe Strupp One potential obstacle in Frank Blethen's effort to sell his Blethen Maine Newspaper group may have been lifted as the tiny Morning Sentinel in Waterville reached agreement with its local Newspaper Guild on a new contract.

But the new agreement, which includes a 5% raise and a $1,600 bonus payment, runs only through next January -- a clear sign that management does not want new owners hamstrung by a lengthy union agreement.

"It is related to the fact that the papers are for sale," said Publisher John Christie, who also runs the sister Kennebec Journal in Augusta. "We would assume the sale would be completed by the end of the contract."

The new agreement at the 19,000-daily circulation Sentinel, one of four in the Maine-based chain, ends a bitter union fight that had included a five-month byline strike, a statewide labor petition supporting the guild, and threats from the paper to terminate the collective bargaining agreement.

Things worsened April 15 when negotiations came to a halt for the 21-person Waterville unit of the Portland Newspaper Guild. Three days later, the union received a registered letter that stated: "it is the intention of Blethen Maine Inc. to terminate the collective bargaining agreement between the Waterville unit ? and Blethen Maine Newspapers."

Waterville guild members had been working without a contract since January 2006, and with no raises since early 2005.

The new agreement, which passed by a 13-4 vote on Tuesday, was tentatively reached last week during negotiations. "People were glad to have something since we had not had a raise in three years and had not had a contract in two years," said Travis Lazarczyk, a sports reporter and guild negotiator.

The deal includes a 2.5% raise retroactive to May 4, with another 2.5% when the contract is signed. It also limits sick days to seven per year, while allowing management more flexibility to relocate employees among the four daily papers.

Asked about the unusually short length of the contract, Lazarczyk said, "We will start all over with a new owner, I guess." Darla Pickett, unit chair for the Waterville unit, added, "this is the best thing for our members at this point."

Pickett said that bylines that had been withheld since December would be returned on Wednesday: "I think it will be nice, especially for the photographers who were really anonymous for five months."

The agreement occurred as The Seattle Times Company seeks to sell the Waterville paper and the company's three other Maine dailies -- The Journal, The Portland Press-Herald, and Maine Sunday Telegram, also of Portland.

In a related move, Portland Newspaper Guild members have launched an effort in recent weeks to buy the newspaper group from Blethen, but no progress has been reported on that effort.