OHIO PAY HIKES HINGE ON CIRCULATION GAINS

By: Todd Shields Youngstown Vindicator Lost Readers In Last Decade





A new labor contract at the Vindicator in Youngstown,
Ohio, withholds most raises unless circulation goes up. The two-

year pact was approved recenlty on a 105-to-41 vote by members of
The Newspaper Guild's Local 11.



The contract covers editorial workers, classified advertising
representatives, and circulation workers. It elevates roughly 30
delivery drivers from part time to full time.



Since 1990, the independent Vindicator's weekday
circulation has dropped 14,824 copies to 74,004 this year, with
Sunday circulation off more. "I don't think the company could
have survived a strike," said Local 11 President Anthony Markota.
"We can both come back and fight another day."







Todd Shields (tshields@editorandpublisher.com) is the Washington editor for E&P.







Copyright 2000, Editor & Publisher.