Toledo Guild President Wants Buyouts Offered at Sister Paper

By: Joe Strupp The Toledo Newspaper Guild, which is bracing for 17 layoffs announced last week at The Blade, wants its members to have the same buyout option that union workers at the sister Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are receiving.

The Post-Gazette and The Blade are both owned by Toledo-based Block Communications.

"We are the same company and we are in the same financial straits, but we don't get the same consideration," said Lillian Covarrubias, Toledo Guild president and a 19-year clerk at the Blade. "We are not getting the same buyout offer they got in Pittsburgh. The same financial situation exists in both places. I have not heard why they get them and we don't."

Blade General Manager Joe Zerbey said he had no comment on Pittsburgh's situation, but added: "We looked at everything. The way we proceeded with layoffs was the best way to proceed."

Block Chairman Allan Block added: "I would assume it is not an option for us to do it in that case. We have laid off slower and fewer than others have."

In October, the Post-Gazette announced it would offer newsroom buyouts in an effort to cut 18 newsroom positions.

"About 100 members of the union are eligible for the buyout offer, which is based on a combination of age and years of employment," a Post-Gazette story in October stated. "The offer includes up to one year in salary and one year of health-care coverage at the current employee contribution rate, and the option to purchase medical coverage for another two years."

Eligible employees had until Dec. 5 to decide. No new information about the buyouts has been released.

Last week, The Blade informed the guild that 15 editorial positions would be eliminated, and two business department posts. Covarrubias said the guild will meet with management on Wednesday to determine if those chosen are being let go as per the guild contract.

"We are going through the process," she said, adding that the current three-year guild contract runs through May 2010. The guild represents 262 Blade employees.

Covarrubias said the contract also includes a buyout plan that the union approved in the last negotiations. "We really don't know why we can't get buyouts."

She is also on the layoff list, but could be bumped to a lower position because of seniority. If she declines to be bumped, she could have some 38 weeks of paid severance due to her veteran status, but lose health coverage.

If Covarrubias stays at the paper, she said she would be bumped from her current editorial assistant post to an advertising department job, with a pay cut of about $100 out of $700 per week: "I am luckier than some because there will be people who walk out the door and I have an alternative."

Zerbey said the pending layoffs combined with other non-newsroom cuts this past year will reduce the total staffing of The Blade by about 30% by the end of 2008, bringing it to about 400.

"It will be fewer people because of what we are going through," Zerbey said. "We are no different than any other paper." He said the Blade has made other cost-cutting moves, going from a 50-inch web width to 44 inches and cutting back pages on Monday and Tuesday.