One Union Settles with 'Vindicator,' But 171 Staffers Remain On Strike

Posted
By: (AP) One of two unions on strike against The Vindicator newspaper has ratified a new contract that includes a wage freeze and signing bonuses.

The agreement reached Saturday with Teamsters Local 473 affects 24 mailroom employees, said Mark A. Brown, the newspaper's general manager.

Reporters, photographers, and truck drivers who walked out Nov. 16 over health care costs remain on strike. No new talks were scheduled.

The Teamsters settlement doesn't affect the walkout by 171 members of Local 34011 of the Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America, said Debora Shaulis, vice president of the local.

The signing bonuses will allow union members to absorb the cost of medical insurance which the union agreed to pay, chief steward Mike Ross said Monday. The paper previously paid the full cost, but employees will now pay about $34 monthly for single coverage and $64 monthly for family coverage, Ross said.

The 70,000-circulation Vindicator, which covers northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania, has continued to publish. Strikers publish their own newspaper.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here