Quick note to News

Thanks to everyone in News who e-mailed back on the Biz and Sports "silo" and reporter-associate proposals. I was responding to each one last night, but had to give up because of the sheer volume.

We suspected that these ideas might be unpopular, but we had no idea what a startling understatement that was. We'll deliver that message to management.

I was also surprised at how many people told us, "No More Mr. Nice Union." In e-mail after e-mail, you said that we've cooperated enough, and now it's time for the company to start showing some real movement on key issues.

I think I made the same mistake that management seems to have made. I interpreted some of the decisions this bargaining unit (particularly News) has made over the past few years as meaning that you'll give things up without a fight. I was wrong, and I apologize for that.

I disagreed with the way some of those votes went, but it's clear that your intent was to help the company. And now it's time for the company to show a little appreciation.

We'll let 'em know: That bill is past due.

Thanks for all the support from the "least militant" department.

-Yoko-

Quick response from management on sick leave

Well, that was fast.

Guild bargainers for the Composing unit brought a counterproposal on sick leave on Wednesday, and company representatives spurned it almost immediately.

The rapidly rejected proposal would have given Composing members 10 days of sick leave per year, and mirrors what’s on the table in Guild main-unit talks.

Composing members currently have no paid sick leave.

We also told the company that we are not interested in reducing minimum shifts for associates to 4 hours.

“The main concern is that it would continue to be an erosion of work for those folks,” Guild Administrative Officer Liz Brown explained.

Another “me, too,” proposal we made is to ask for the same 45-cent-an-hour raise that Guild main-unit members are seeking.

In a “housekeeping” issue, Times and union bargainers are hammering out the last details of overtime language, to reflect the fact that Composing members went from a 35-hour work week to a 40-hour work week in 2002.

We had proposed to get rid of the Memorandum of Understanding on competency testing. Times management had proposed to remove just the language on buyouts. Brown told them we think the buyout language should stay.

“Some people might want to take that,” she noted.

Times Labor Relations Director Chris Biencourt asked whether she meant that people were interested in bonuses for retirement generally, or only if faced with competency testing. Brown said she thought that it was the former.

Also under discussion was the possibility of Composing members joining the company’s long-term disability plan. Copies of the plan will be distributed to Composing members for review.

On June 27, we agreed to the following version of Article 12.1.:

"12.1 News Assistants, Lead News Assistants and other support staff may apply to train in the duties of a reporter, photographer, desk editor, page designer or news artist for a period of up to six months, and shall be paid not less than the starting minimum in job classification A6 plus ten percent, or their current pay rate plus ten percent, whichever is greater, for the duration of the training period. Such assignments will be granted in the sole discretion of the Publisher. Unless promoted before the end of the temporary assignment, the employee will be returned to his/her former duties and former rate of pay and will be considered for appropriate future openings."

A little less conversation,
a little more action

Negotiations between your fellow Guild members and representatives of Times management moved forward on Friday as we reached tentative agreement on advertising goal-setting and on requirements that workers bring their cars to work every day. Also, in response to our conversation about Home Delivery workers’ problem getting enough sleep, managers were reminded that it’s OK to nap during breaks.

While the agreement on advertising Standards of Performance and goals wasn’t as comprehensive as what we had proposed, the negotiations team feels it’s a good step in the right direction. We tentatively agreed to the following proposal from the company (all language new):

“8.4.4 Advertising revenue goal expectations shall be established according to an interactive goal-setting process which is defined in writing and posted or otherwise made available to all sales representatives. Upcoming vacations, leaves of absence, desk coverage, trends, major account losses and gains and other factors will be considered in this interactive goal-setting process.”

This language commits the company to the kind of clarity and consistency that advertising sales staffers said is so vital to their ability to do their jobs effectively.

In response to several members’ requests, we had proposed language allowing people who are required to use their cars to leave the car at home on days when they’re pretty sure they won’t need them for their jobs. Management brought a counterproposal adding a requirement that we get supervisors’ OK in advance.

We think it’s reasonable for, say, a reporter’s boss to know whether or not he or she has a car available, so we agreed to the following addition to item 19.1 of the contract:

“With advance approval of their manager, employees who are required to use their automobiles in the course of their employment may use alternate means to arrive at work on days when the employees are reasonably certain that the use of their automobiles will not be necessary.”

Guild bargainers had proposed language saying “The Publisher agrees that employees may nap while on breaks and lunch periods.”

Company representatives said that wasn’t necessary, because they felt it was obvious that managers shouldn’t be preventing people from sleeping.

We told them that in some cases, managers actually were telling people not to nap.

To fix that problem, Home Delivery Manager Mike Sheehan sent out the following note in an e-mail to supervisors on Friday: “I also want to take this opportunity to re-affirm our position regarding employee break periods. Just as a reminder: what a person chooses to do while on break, including resting and napping, is their business as long as it does not interfere with the work of other employees.”

Sheehan also is forming a committee including Guild negotiator Barb Heller to find ways to alleviate the safety and health hazards caused by Home Delivery employees’ lack of sleep.

On the matter of notice before a layoff, we had proposed to increase the notice requirement from four weeks to seven weeks, reasoning that people need as much time as possible to plan for their future when they lose a job.

Company reps said that they were sympathetic to that argument, and noted that they had in prior cases given more than the minimum four weeks’ notice. Because of the unpredictability of future economic conditions, however, they were reluctant to increase that minimum.

Their proposal doesn’t increase the notice period, but it does capture in writing the company’s commitment to give as much notice as it can. We agreed to the following addition to the end of Article 4.2:

“The Publisher agrees that the four-week notice period required (or pay in lieu) is a minimum period, and that often it will be desirable and helpful to employees to receive more advance notice than the minimum. The Publisher agrees to exercise its discretion in good faith and to give more notice to the greatest extent possible in keeping with business consideration.”

Management also gave us new language to consider in the areas of substance abuse and grievance timelines, and we’re reviewing those proposals.

We’re also taking a closer look at a proposed new “reporting associate” position and the list of jobs to be excluded from the bargaining unit.

One of the key remaining issues where we haven’t yet found common ground is sick leave.

We’ve modified our proposal so that it simply takes the current Seattle Times sick-leave policy and puts it in the contract.

We think that this is a reasonable, common-sense solution to your concerns about the confusion surrounding sick leave. On our bargaining surveys, this was a consistent complaint in all departments, and we hope that the company will see the benefit in easing all our minds on this matter.

(For the Guild’s complete current proposal on sick leave, see the blog post below.)

Sick of the mystery?

The Guild has made a new proposal to The Seattle Times on sick leave. All we want is for the company to agree to commit to a sick-leave policy in the contract, compared to the current language that leaves sick leave up to the employer’s discretion. The Times’ most recent proposal would make reference to their sick-leave policy, but would still give the employer the right to change it at any time.

Our proposal would not incur any new costs for the Times.

Wonder how much sick-leave time you have now? E-mail nchaney@seattletimes.com and ask her for the number of sick-leave days you have available. (The formula is 10 days per year for full-time employees, minus time used.) Please e-mail the Guild at info@pnwguild.org to let us know what you find out.

This is what the Guild has proposed (RED is language to be deleted; BLUE is language to be added):

15.3 Sick Leave: Employees with six (6) months continuous service shall be eligible for sick leave with pay upon the first workday of illness. The Guild will work with the Publisher to prevent unwarranted and/or excessive use of sick pay benefits. On the third (3rd) occurrence of sick leave in a calendar year the Publisher will review the employee's sick leave record for pattern of days off and long term usage. The Publisher may place the employee on a six (6) month evaluation period during which he/she shall not receive sick leave pay for the first day of illness. Upon correction of excessive use, the employee will be returned to the Publisher's regular policy and procedure.

15.3.1 The Publisher retains the right to determine the length of time sick leave benefits shall continue. Full-time employees shall be allowed ten (10) days (80 hours) of paid sick leave each calendar year; amounts will be pro-rated for employees working fewer than full-time hours. Unused sick-leave days shall be carried forward into following years. Sick-leave credits will be canceled upon termination of employment for any reason (unless an employee is reinstated to employment as a result of arbitration). Upon ratification of this Agreement, the Publisher shall provide employees with an accounting of the number of paid sick days in their sick-leave “bank,” based on the formula of ten (10) days of sick leave per year of service, less time used, and pro-rated for employees working fewer than full-time hours.

15.3.2 For the period a sick employee is continued on the payroll, the Publisher may deduct that amount received by an employee under the Washington State Workers' Compensation Act.

15.3.3 Employees who receive sick leave pay under this section shall, upon request, submit to an examination by a doctor selected by the Publisher and sign a medical release pertaining to that examination.

15.3.4 The intent of paid sick leave is to provide income to eligible employees who are absent from work because of a personal illness of the employee (whether or not the absence is qualified under the Family and Medical Leave Act), or to care for a family member with an illness as allowed under the Washington Family Care Act.

Small steps forward

Composing-room bargainers and Times management made modest progress on a few more items on Wednesday.

When we discussed the company’s proposal on part-time schedules for journey-level workers last week, we told them they already had the flexibility under the contract to schedule people to work part time if they want to.

After thinking about it over the weekend, management was still unconvinced.

They said that without formal part-time language, they’d be accused of playing favorites by giving some workers part-time arrangements.

Guild bargainer Dan Beaumont said that throughout the company, there are examples of people being given unpaid time off when it worked for both the company and the employee.

“There’s never been a restriction by the union for this type of action,” Beaumont said.

After further discussion on the impact that these schedules would have on other workers, and the way that priority would be handled, the company withdrew its proposal on part-time status.

To address our question about vacation for new hires, the company offered “bounce back” language explaining how vacation time gets put into employees’ time bank at the end of probation (BLUE is newly inserted language):

“10.1 Employees with six (6) months but less than two (2) years of continuous service will accrue one (1) hour of paid vacation for each 20.0 hours compensated, to a maximum of eighty (80) hours per year, of which vacation accrued by this formula may be taken after six (6) months of service. Once employees achieve six months of service, their vacation balance shall be credited based on this formula from their date of hire. If the new employee terminates prior to six (6) months, no vacation will be accrued or paid.

This describes how the system currently works. We agreed to add it to the contract.

We also discussed the company’s proposal to reduce associates’ minimum shifts from five hours to four hours, and the Guild’s proposal seeking sick leave for Composing-unit members.

The final big issue we talked about on Wednesday was vacation scheduling. The company withdrew its proposals to change the current scheduling system. Their remaining proposal would take scheduling out of the hands of the chapel chair and instead have a manager do it.

We’re considering their proposal, but want to ensure that the signup process wouldn’t change. Current contract language is going to need an overhaul in order to accurately describe the way things are done now.

Sitting in : The rules

Negotiations at The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer are open to any Guild members who wish to attend. If you choose to sit in on a bargaining session, please observe the following protocol:
1. Unless you've been specifically invited as a "guest" negotiator, plan to attend sessions on your own time, such as breaks, lunch or dinner periods, or on your days off.

2. Try not to disrupt when you enter or leave. When you enter, explain that you are there to observe. Take a seat in the room away from the negotiating table.

3. Do not speak during negotiation sessions unless someone on the Guild bargaining team invites you to do so. You are free to stay in the room when the Guild takes a break and goes into caucus. That's a great time to ask questions of the bargaining team.

Composing: A surprisingly pleasant day


Composing-unit bargainers found the Times management team in an agreeable mood Friday.

(These talks were about the Composing contract; main Guild talks continue next Tuesday.)

The parties ended the day with several agreements on the following:

• Changing the language in section 3.4.3 as proposed by the Guild to read as follows (RED indicates deletions; BLUE indicates new language): "Making lead person assignments outside the schedule. (Examples include ad alley production lead, head make up traffic central lead, trainer, or Camex and quality assurance lead.) When doing so, the supervisor will post the job opening first consider so all interested, qualified, employees can be considered on the shift where the vacancy occurs."
• Deletion of the Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Services. (That department no longer exists.)
• Changing language in section 11.8 as proposed by management (BLUE indicates new language): "The supervisor shall determine not later than 10:30 a.m. Thursday, of any holiday observed on Monday; for any other holiday, not later than 12:00 noon on the third day prior to the holiday, the number of employees required to work on said holiday. The force shall be selected with due consideration to priority and qualification to perform the particular functions needed to be performed on the holiday. Employees may volunteer provided the employee is qualified to perform the work required. If more qualified employees volunteer than are required, priority will be considered. If fewer qualified employees volunteer than are required, employees will be assigned based on qualifications, but by reverse priority."

We also discussed vacation accrual. Employees with less than six months seniority don't get vacation time during that probationary period, but when they pass probation, the equivalent of the vacation time they would have accrued during that time gets credited to their vacation bank. Guild bargainers asked if the contract language could be changed to reflect that and Times Labor Relations Director Chris Biencourt he'd take a look and see if that's possible.

On a similar topic, we talked about the company's proposal to change how vacations are scheduled. Composing-unit bargainers defended the current system, under which chapel chairs take the schedule to members and sign them up by priority (seniority).

"This has worked extremely well. Everyone is happy as a clam," chapel chair Rena Mefford said of the decades-old system.

After further discussion, the teams realized that we agreed as far as what we want out of vacation assignment: that priority/seniority is respected and that everyone in the unit gets a shot at one first-choice vacation pick.

"My belief is that we had a similar goal in mind," Biencourt said.

Mefford agreed: "All things considered, I think we're on the same page."

All that remains to be resolved on this issue is whether the chapel chair or a Times managers will take care of this task. The parties will discuss this topic further.

A fairly intense and extended discussion on part-time scheduling ended in a surprise: Guild bargainers reviewed current contract language and concluded that the company already had the flexibility it was seeking.

Management had proposed adding the following language to the end of Article 4.1.3: "Notwithstanding the foregoing, by mutual agreement between the Publisher and the journey level employee, part-time schedules of any other configuration are permitted."

Biencourt explained that the company wanted to be able to accommodate people who would like to work fewer hours. He cited the example of someone who might prefer to ease into retirement rather than have to choose between full-time work and quitting altogether.

He said, “We’re trying to meet your needs so you stay with us.”

While the Guild team could see the value in that, we also had concerns and questions about the effects on other workers and effects on the part-time worker’s benefits. We also wondered how someone would go back to full-time status if they found that part-time work didn’t suit them.

All those questions became somewhat irrelevant when we realized that managers already can accommodate a person’s desires for part-time work under the current contract.

For example, if you wanted to work three 10-hour shifts, your supervisor could put you on a normal full-time schedule of four 10-hour shifts, Monday through Thursday. Then the two of you could mutually agree to have you take every Monday off as an unpaid day off.

So you’d be working 30 hours and getting paid 30 hours, and everyone’s happy. No changes would have to be made to the contract, and no one would have to sit down and figure out a whole new set of policies and procedures to go along with it.

We presented this solution to the management team, and they’re going to take a look at it to see whether it takes care of what they wanted.

“You’ve basically given us something to chew on. We’ll think about whether this works,” Biencourt said.

What do we want? Good goals!
When do we want 'em? Now!

Tuesday’s session between Times management and Guild members started with a much-needed chat on Standards of Performance (SOPs) in the Advertising department.

Times Vice-President for Advertising Mei-Mei Chan attended the talks to shed some light on the company’s thinking. Chan opened with remarks on the Times’ “aspiration to be a world-class sales and marketing organization.”

She stressed that the SOPs are a set of minimum expectations and a management tool to keep people accountable: “If you’ve got a better way, we’d love to hear it.”

We think that we do have some good solutions to the problems in advertising, and one of those solutions is one we got directly from Times management.

That proposal is aimed at making advertising goal-setting a more collaborative and transparent process. The language in our proposal is taken from a management memo of guidelines, so it’s hard for us to see what their objection to this would be.

Another proposal would adjust a salesperson’s revenue goals and other expectations to account for absences due to vacation, illness, or other leaves.
Right now, when you’re out of the office for a week, you’re still accountable for the same level of sales as you would be if you were working, and we don’t think that’s fair.

Guild Administrative Officer Liz Brown made the point that the disciplinary grid for failure to live up to the SOPs has more psychological impact than any actual discipline itself.

“Being labeled a ‘low performer’ is so upsetting to people that it makes top salespeople start looking around for other jobs,” Brown said.

Chan said she didn’t think the goal-setting guidelines need to be in the contract, because she’s asked her managers to have those conversations with people.

Members Denise Peterson, Sheri Williams and Bob Johnston made the point that while this may be top management’s intent, these discussions are not happening on a clear and consistent basis throughout the department. Or in some cases, managers talk with salespeople, but the goals that sales staffers are given don’t reflect the content of those talks.


Commission Sales Representatives

We’ve also proposed a set of changes to improve conditions for Commission Sales Representatives.

Commission Sales Reps are paid on a commission-only basis. They receive no hourly wage, paid vacation, or sick leave, and aren’t reimbursed for their expenses.

What that means is if they don’t sell, they don’t eat.

These positions were designed so that Commission Sales Reps would be motivated to go out and find new business. In fact, after they’ve had an account for 20 months (or 1,000 inches of lineage), they have to turn it over for maintenance to a salaried rep.

Our proposals for the Commission Sales Reps seek to remove restrictions on where and to whom they can sell, to turn them loose to bring in more ad revenue, which can only be a good thing for everyone concerned.

Commission Sales Rep Kathy Nielsen stressed, “We’re here to sell, and that’s the bottom line. I want to move forward and I want to make money for the company.”

“No one wants to bring in more money for The Seattle Times than a Commission rep,” Commission Sales Rep Bonnie McSwain echoed.

Another thing we’re seeking is that this group be exempted from the Standards of Performance that other ad salespeople work under. Because they’re constantly chasing new accounts, their revenue stream is highly unpredictable. While the rewards can be great in good months, they can spend several months working on prospects before they pay off. But those months before the payoff can get them into trouble under the SOPs, and could result in discipline or firing, even though the reps have had absolutely spectacular months as well.

Guild members were heartened to hear that Chan understands that there are differences in the sales cycles of different reps that need to be taken into account, and that she’d be taking another look at the current standards.

Exclusions

The remainder of the session was spent on new positions in marketing and advertising that the company proposes to exclude from the bargaining unit.

In marketing, these are events manager, media research specialist, research manager for circ and readership development, research special projects manager, marketing production manager. Advertising positions excluded under the company’s proposal include media planning specialist, marketing database specialist, direct-marketing specialist, senior data reporting specialist and product performance revenue analyst.

Guild bargainers Paul Morgan, Sheri Williams and Bob Johnston questioned why these positions should be excluded from the bargaining unit, and whether all new positions were being placed outside the unit.

Times Labor Relations Analyst Martin Hammond pointed out that some new positions were added into the Guild unit as well, citing the pay-scale classifications of some of them.

If you have thoughts on whether those positions should be excluded from the bargaining unit, please let us know as soon as possible: info@pnwguild.org

Are you on a flexible schedule?

Seattle Times management defined who is on a flexible schedule in 2003. They say this list remains "pretty accurate today."

*************************************************************

Memo to Guild Administrative Officer Liz Brown from Seattle Times Labor Analyst Martin Hammond dated March 17, 2003. (Some of the members identified by name in this memo are no longer in the bargaining unit.):

RE: Flexible and 4x10 Schedules Information Request

Dear Liz:

Please find below our responses to your requests for information:

1. The following individuals are on flexible schedules as defined in Article 14 of our labor agreement. When all individuals in a classification or department are on flexible schedules, I have simply listed the name of the classification.

All District Advisers and Assistant District Advisers
All employees in the Promotions Department
All employees in the Advertising Graphics Department
All Outside Sales Representatives
All Commission Sales Representatives
All part-time Customer Sales Representatives
All Newsroom Employees in job group A1
(Asst. Art Director, Book Editor, Columnist, Desk Editor, Editorial Cartoonist, Editorial Writer, News Page Designer, On-Line News Editor, Pacific NW Arts Director, Pacific NW Associate Editor, Second Asst. Metro Editor, Troubleshooter)
All Newsroom Employees in job group A3
(News Artist, Online Posting Editor, Photographer, Reporter, Computer- Assisted Reporting Specialist)
All Zone Reporters
All News Residents
All Resale and Permissions Specialists I

Nyssa Rogers
Gary Daugherty
Ariadne Barboa
Danyelle Lesch
Kale Kim
Doug Knoop
Julie Walsh
Mark Yuasa
Kathy Baldwin
Linda Charles
Claudia Denholm
Vance Julien
Kathy Shrauner
Steven Yong
Mikel Cassel
Dean Desilet
Harley Donner
Dru Fleming
Greg Tolmie
Michelle Lyle
Sandra Mendoza
Ruth St. Hilaire (Part Time)
Wanda Buckmaster
Rick Medeiros
Vicki Perry
Janell VanDusen
Clark Alvey
Eddy Ingersoll
Elaine Phillips
Julianne Eng
Lea Riley
Patrice Baugh
Sue Gregurich
Susie Marin
Terry Bergren
Tina Walters
Holly Splittgerber
Dan Boulton
Daniel Cifuentes
Gwen Dinish
Gregg Rice
Jenni Malarz
Terry Boyd
Jeff Hutchinson

2. In the case of District Advisers and Assistant District Advisers, the positions have been operating on flexible schedules for many years. Consequently it has not been necessary for anyone to request to be on one.

In the Promotions and Advertising Graphics departments, individuals have periodically requested to adjust their schedules to allow them to attend to personal issues. In these cases, they make up for the time they are away during other days of the week. As the need arises, we sometimes designate individuals to work flexible schedules usually for short periods of time.

Of the named individuals above, the following requested to be on flexible schedules on the approximate dates listed next to their names. In the newsroom, managers have not tracked request dates but have worked with employees on a case-by-case basis to address scheduling challenges. Consequently, their status would be more accurately described as by mutual agreement (MA):
Clark Alvey March 2002
Dan Boulton Summer 2001
Nyssa Rogers MA
Gary Daugherty MA
Ariadne Barboa MA
Danyelle Lesch MA
Kale Kim MA
Doug Knoop MA
Julie Walsh MA
Mark Yuasa MA

3. All positions covered under the Guild's labor agreement are coded in our payroll system as non-exempt. We have not, however, done a recent audit of all positions and the individuals in them to determine if other positions might more accurately be classified as exempt. The specific facts would have to be examined on a case-by-case basis to determine which, if any, positions are consistent with exemption from overtime pay requirements of the FLSA.

While we do consider many of our Outside and Commission Sales Representatives to be exempt from overtime, we also recognize that there are circumstances in which an employee can change from exempt to non-exempt depending on the work performed in a given period. However, Advertising management is not aware of any Outside or Commission Sales Representative who has worked more than 40 hours in a given week while also working in a non-exempt manner.

We do, of course, reserve the right to enforce Article 14.4 of our contract at some later date. Should we later determine that other positions qualify as exempt from the FLSA, we will rely on Article 26.2 of our agreement which provides that "the failure of the Union or Publisher to enforce any of the provisions of the Agreement or exercise its rights granted by law shall not be deemed a waiver of such right."

4. The following individuals work 4x10 schedules.
Theresa Kohn
Kathi Wheeler
Justin Mayo
Judy Averill
John Gomes
Ranny Green
Yoko Kuramoto
Angela Lo
Marsue Page
Val Phinney
Becky Teagarden
David Birdwell
Rob Davila
Lynn Mucken
Tracey Spenser
Marc Oliver
Ed Wenick
Linda Byrd
Gwen Dinish

Finally, you said that some employees had been informed by managers that there was no comp time program at The Seattle Times. That was an error. There is a comp time policy in place for Guild employees and it is outlined in Article 14.7 of our agreement.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Martin Hammond
Labor Relations Analyst

What's the problem?

Times management and Composing-unit members exchanged proposals Wednesday, resulting in tentative agreement on several small "housekeeping" items.

While we reached common ground on the smaller stuff, we remain far apart on some major issues.

Chapel chair Rena Mefford took particular exception to management proposals to change longstanding practices that have been working well for the company and its workers, in some cases for decades.

These proposed changes include:

1) Changing the way vacations are scheduled. "It's worked well the old way for 100 years," Mefford noted.

2) Eliminating the practice of paying holiday pay for those who work on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

3) A drug policy that would require workers to inform managers when taking any medication (even over-the-counter medications) that "could cause them to be impaired in the performance of their job duties

4) Moving full-time workers to part-time work, "by mutual agreement."

5) Reducing associates' minimum workweek to 20 hours (from 25 hours).
We think these changes are unnecessary. The union's bargaining team has approached this round of negotiations from a problem-solving perspective, and we fail to see what problems these proposals would resolve.

Take the drug-policy proposal as an example: The average age of Composing workers is 56. Not a lot of wild party animals in that group, and they're concerned that this proposal could result in violations of members' privacy.

Times chief negotiator Chris Biencourt said that the intent of this proposal (and an identical proposal in the main Guild contract) is to ensure employees' safety. People on drugs that make them drowsy might be unsafe while driving or operating machinery, he said.

Guild chief negotiator Liz Brown pointed out that no one in the unit drives on the job.

Bargaining member Dan Beaumont added, "We don't operate machinery; we don't even use sharp knives anymore. It's like sitting in this room. We're a very safe group. You've gotta almost stab yourself with a pencil to hurt yourself."

Among the problem-solving proposals that we've offered is a\ncommon-sense plan to transition Composing members to a sick-leave policy that brings their benefit level a little closer to what other Times employees receive.

The Composing unit creates ads for the newspapers. They are under a separate contract from the main Advertising, Circulation, and News contract.

Management: Read our lips, no new money

The big news out of Tuesday's meeting between the Guild and the company is actually pretty big:

"We're proposing a two-year status-quo agreement with respect to wages," management negotiator Chris Biencourt said. "That's the pattern."

Translation: If you make anything above scale, you wouldn't get a raise under the company's proposal. Apparently, the status quo to which he referred was the pattern the company has established while bargaining with other unions this year.

Somehow, this bit of wage-freeze information was supposed to have been implied in the proposal management gave to the Guild team last month. That proposal included no wage language at all. The "skinny" file, indeed.

We have not presented our economic proposal. We expect to present it later.

Guild chief negotiator Liz Brown asked if the company was trying to hold down Guild wages so it can give increases to managers. Liz mentioned that many managers already receive a higher level of pay, and thus are better able to weather tough economic times. Said Biencourt: The company is asking the same thing of the Guild that it's asked of the managers and other unions.

We're not sure that is a compelling reason to accept a wage freeze.

Vacation
The company also skimmed dismissively over our proposal to increase maximum vacation time to 5 weeks and accelerate the accrual rate. It claims an additional week of vacation would add 2 percent to the cost of the contract. We all know that the costs of employees taking vacation are rarely traded one-for-one; we cover for each other most of the time. It also lamented the "opportunity costs." Guild bargainer Paul Morgan replied that opportunities can also be lost if employees are ragged. "It can cut both ways," Paul said. Biencourt agreed.


Flexible schedules
We spent a lot of time discussing people working flexible schedules. The Guild's position is that some employees feel compelled to accept compensation time in lieu of overtime, and then end up "banking" that comp time when the opportunity to use that time off evaporates during the pay period. Banking comp time might sound like a good idea, but it can lead to problems because that time lives off the books. And if it's off the books, you might never see it again.

In essence, you've just worked free overtime. If you work more than 40 hours in a week, you should either use the comp time before the end of the pay period or take the overtime pay. (You take comp time in a one-for-one exchange within the same week, or at the rate of time-and-a-half in the next week of the pay period. Didn't use it by the end of the pay period? Take the OT pay.)


Some things we learned:
1) Defined by the company, a flexible schedule means employees can be required to work, say, 10 hours on Monday and then six hours on Tuesday. As long as an employee does not work more than 40 hours in a week, no overtime/comp time will be paid.
2) Most people in Guild-covered positions in advertising, circulation, and news are considered to be on flexible work schedules.

The company claims it needs this flexibility and uses it judiciously to keep costs down. We think a clearer policy communicated well would go a long way toward helping solve this problem. We are close to an agreement on language that states clearly the right of employees to take overtime pay instead of comp time.


Sick Leave
The company presented the Guild team with the official sick leave policy but does not want to put it in the contract, saying it is a "discretionary policy." The Guild wants to lock it down in the contract so the company can't change it without first consulting its employees. Biencourt said the company does not intend to change the policy and want to leave it out of the contract for "flexibility" reasons. Then he offered to reference the policy in the contract, which does not solve the above problem.

"I think it does give comfort" that the policy is in writing, Biencourt said. Unit chair Gene Balk said he thought employees would be more comfortable if the policy were in the contract.


Exempt positions
The company has proposed making editorial writers and the editorial cartoonist exempt positions, saying that, as the "management voice" of the paper, they have a conflict of interest. Liz said that editorial employees were not unanimous in their desire to move out of the bargaining unit. Yoko Kuramoto-Eidsmoe, local prez, asked if it's the company's position that simply being in a union would preclude someone from writing as the editorial voice of the newspaper.

We believe that journalists have all kinds of conflicting points of view and still manage to put them aside to write news stories. Likewise, an editorial writer can pontificate for the ed board without completely agreeing with an argument.

Times spells out sick-leave policy ... but will they commit to it?

Seattle Times management's sick leave is spelled out in the memo below. The Guild's bargaining team would like the reassurance of having some of these policies and practices spelled out in our contract, so that members are aware of what their rights and benefits are.

(Memo received from Chris Biencourt in Times negotiations 6/6/06:)

To: Guild-Represented Employees
From: Human Resources/Labor Relations
Date: February 16, 2006
Re: Paid Sick Leave Change

Qualified employees in the Guild bargaining unit currently receive sick pay under the Times’ discretionary, informal policy referenced in Article 15.3 of the Guild bargaining agreement. While we expect this policy to continue into the future, our recent conversion to a new payroll system created an opportunity for us to look at our practices and, in this case, to simplify and clarify our practice in a way that benefits employees.

Specifically, we intend to discontinue the Publisher’s option of imposing a first day, unpaid waiting period after the third occurrence of sick leave in a calendar year.

The following questions and answers are intended to further clarify this policy:

1. Why is the company making this change?
The occasion of installing a new payroll system created an opportunity for us to look at the waiting day practice. As a result of that review, we have determined to waive our option of imposing a waiting period.

2. Why does the company offer sick pay?
The intent of paid sick leave is to provide income protection to eligible employees who are absent from work due to either:
• the personal illness of the employee (whether Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) qualifying or not); or
• to care for a family member with an illness as allowed under the Washington Family Care Act (WFCA).
•
3. Paid sick leave is a discretionary policy not an accrued benefit. What does this mean?
Paid sick leave is available for use by eligible employees during their active employment, but unlike vacation, it is not “accrued” and paid out on termination or retirement.

4. Who is eligible to receive sick pay?
Employees in the Guild bargaining unit who have at least six months of continuous service are eligible for sick leave with pay upon the first workday of illness.

5. How much sick pay am I allowed?
Available paid sick leave is calculated as ten days (80 hours) per year of service, less time used, and is prorated for employees working less than full-time hours. Available paid sick leave is capped at six months (1040 hours or the pro rata equivalent). Beginning with the first pay period of 2006, available sick pay has been tracked in SAP. All eligible employees have received a beginning allowance of hours based on this calculation using their most recent hire date. Sick pay hours are added and subtracted each pay period according to time worked and use. Questions you have about how the beginning allowance was calculated should be addressed to nchaney@seattletimes.com.
Available sick pay is tracked for each eligible employee in SAP. When you have a qualifying need, ask your supervisor, department payroll preparer, or HR manager for your available balance.

6. When can I use available sick pay?
After 6 months of continuous employment, available sick pay can be used for your own illness or disability (FMLA or other). Under WFCA, sick pay can be used to care for a minor child with a health condition that requires supervision or treatment. Also under WFCA, sick pay can be used to care for a spouse, parent, parent-in-law, or grandparent who has a serious health condition or an emergency condition; medical certification (using same forms as FMLA) and HR approval are required.

7. How do I access available sick pay?
Employees in the Guild bargaining unit who are eligible for overtime (nonexempt) must record all sick pay qualifying absences on their time sheet or work schedule according to the manner in which hours are recorded in their department.
Overtime exempt (sometimes called “salaried”) employees will report only FMLA or WFCA qualifying absences on an “exceptions” basis. These exceptions to their normal 40-hour weekly work schedule need to be communicated to the department’s payroll preparer before the time entry deadline each pay period using a new electronic form created for this purpose.

8. What happens with my pay if I’m absent for a qualifying reason but I have no available sick pay?
Employees can use available vacation subject to company and/or departmental policy on requesting vacation. If vacation is not available, the time will be unpaid.

9. Does the fact that I receive sick pay for a period of absence excuse me from the company’s attendance policies?
The sick pay policy and the attendance policy are separate policies; receiving sick pay generally does not affect the application of the attendance guidelines. However, FMLA or WFCA covered periods of sick pay are not counted under the company’s attendance guidelines.

If you have other questions about this policy, please direct them to your supervisor and/or Human Resources.