'Sun' Union Votes to Accept Contract

By: Brian Witte, Associated Press Writer (AP) Members of The Sun's newsroom union voted late Tuesday to accept the newspaper's final contract offer less than an hour before the previous contract expired, newspaper and union officials said.

The vote was 319-102 in favor, according to the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild. But the union issued a statement critical of the negotiations and the newspaper's plans to publish in the event of a strike, including the training of temporary workers.

"The guild member employees of The [Baltimore] Sun accept this contract under bitter protest," the statement said.

The newspaper issued what it termed its final offer late Tuesday afternoon after eight weeks of bargaining. The current contract was to expire at midnight Tuesday.

Charles Fancher, a spokesman for The Sun, said the paper was pleased with the vote. "We were convinced that we had made a contract offer that was fair, that was equitable, that was the right thing for the future of The [Baltimore] Sun," he said.

The guild's bargaining committee recommended members reject the proposal, said Candy Thomson, a Sun reporter. She said there was some applause among the approximately 500 people present when the recommendation was made.

Graphic designer Jay Selway said he voted against the offer. "I think that The Sun is going to be hurt by this entire thing. I think the workers are going to be hurt," Selway said.

The Sun held to proposals of a one-year wage freeze, a new merit-pay plan, and the flexibility to transfer workers to new jobs. Fancher said employees would get a $24 weekly raise in the second year. In the third year, they would get a $10 raise, with $14 a week going into a merit-pay pool. Employees would get a $10 raise in the fourth year, with $15 going into the merit pay pool.

Fancher said a top-scale reporter at the paper earned $1,093 a week under the old pact.

The newspaper also extended the notification period for transfers from one week to 30 days, Fancher said. A signing bonus, if the offer was ratified Tuesday and signed by July 10, was increased from $1,000 to $1,500. The Sun dropped a demand related to seniority rights for new workers.

Union members remained concerned about the provision allowing the newspaper to transfer workers to new jobs and about cost-of-living raises that are too small, said Michael Hill, a Sun reporter and member of the guild's bargaining committee.

The contract covers reporters, graphic artists, photographers, some advertising sales employees, and janitors who work at the newspaper, which has 1,300 employees.

The last time Sun workers went on strike was in 1987, for six days.
Tribune Co. acquired The Sun three years ago along with the Los Angeles Times.

The Sun is the 29th largest daily U.S. newspaper, according to Editor & Publisher. It has a daily circulation of 306,799 and a Sunday circulation of 466,916.