N.Y. Labor Talks Falter p.11

By: DOROTHY GIOBBE MEMBERS OF THE New York Newspaper Guild Local 3 at the New York Daily News rejected management's latest contract proposal by a 188 to 7 margin, setting the stage for a protracted effort to reach a lasting agreement.
Guild members in news, advertising and circulation have been working without a contract since current owner Mort Zuckerman purchased the bankrupt newspaper. Zuckerman settled with all of the unions except the Guild.
After the vote, New York Newspaper Guild President Barry Lipton, who characterized management's proposal as a "suicide note," said the lopsided outcome indicated members' determination not to cave in on key issues.
"I've been a Guild officer for 15 years and I've never seen a response as overwhelming as this," he said. "This vote is proof positive that the people at the News are too smart to OK a contract designed to wreck their working lives and reduce them to nothing more than 'work units.' "
Several calls to Zuckerman's office were not returned. A News spokeswoman said the newspaper would make no comment because of ongoing negotiations.
News columnist and unit Chairman Juan Gonzalez said he is hopeful an agreement can be hammered out. "I've been hopeful from the beginning of this process that reason will prevail," he said. "Unfortunately, that contract was really sort of a mockery of a contract. It was a contract in name only."
Before the 1993 takeover, the Guild represented 450 white-collar employees. When Zuckerman bought the News in a $36 million deal, he summarily fired about one-third of the Guild membership.
Soon after the purchase, Guild members broke from the Allied Printing Trades Council, the umbrella organization comprised of nine other unions, all of which reached agreements with Zuckerman.
Gonzalez said that the break with the other unions has "definitely made it more difficult to get a contract ? we're doing this apart from the unions. But I don't think any other of the unions were treated as harshly as we were. We didn't have much of a choice at that time."
Lipton resisted the suggestion that the Guild is operating on reduced clout. "You could say that none of the unions have leverage at this point, even if they have contracts," he said.
"Our people are incited by this offer, and we have a situation where we can demonstrate that people are ticked off," he added. "Zuckerman has to have some degree of sensitivity toward the people who work for him. I think that we can come to the table with evidence that the workers are angry."
Representatives from the Guild and News management will meet again at the bargaining table later this month, Lipton said.
?("I've been hopeful from the beginning of this process that reason will prevail. Unfortunately, that contract was really sort of a mockery of a contract. It was a contract in name only.") [Caption]
?(-Juan Gonzalez, Daily News columnist and Guild unit chair) [Photo)