DQM was just forwarded a copy of a survey the Boston Newspaper Guild sent to its membership, apparently today, seeking employee thoughts on how to proceed in negotiations.
I've pasted the survey below; apologies in advance for any formatting funkiness. Note that respondents are given the possibility of linking wage concessions to similar concessions by management, which strikes me as eminently reasonable, given the fat, non-outcome-driven compensation that top execs at the Times Co. and the Globe have been receiving.
The Guild and Times Co. management sit down tomorrow, so unless the Guild's members respond ASAP and their responses are tallied equally quickly, whatever impact the survey has probably won't be clear for a few days.
4/13/2009 Membership Survey
Please return via email to xxxxx@yahoo.com by Friday, April 17, 2009.
___________________________________________________________________________
Name / Dept. (required to verify union affiliation)
Please check what best describes your feeling on each of the following issues.
1. Reduce all wage rates:
5% Nonstarter ______ If Mgmt does ______ Negotiable _______
10% Nonstarter ______ If Mgmt does ______ Negotiable _______
15% Nonstarter ______ If Mgmt does ______ Negotiable _______
20% Nonstarter ______ If Mgmt does ______ Negotiable _______
25% Nonstarter ______ If Mgmt does ______ Negotiable _______
2. Reduce the Healthcare contributions by $1.5 million (could be add’l $55-$100 wkly)
Nonstarter ______ If Mgmt does ______ Negotiable _______
3. Eliminate the per shift contribution to the health fund (could be add’l $12-$20 wkly)
Nonstarter ______ Negotiable _______
4. Terminate company paid retiree health insurance for future retirees
Nonstarter ______ If Mgmt does ______ Negotiable _______
5. Freeze the current pension plan and eliminate all future contributions.
Nonstarter ______ If Mgmt does ______ Negotiable _______
6. Eliminate its payments to the 401(k) and (a) programs.
Nonstarter ______ If Mgmt does ______ Negotiable _______
7. Modify LTD benefits to align with NYT Co. benefit plan.
Nonstarter ______ Negotiable _______
8. Elimination of the parties’ Job Guarantee provisions and list.
Nonstarter ______ Negotiable _______
9. Eliminate seniority as the major factor in determining layoffs.
Nonstarter ______ Negotiable _______
10. Implement one time reduction in force without regard to seniority (including employees currently covered by the job guarantee)
Nonstarter ______ Negotiable _______
11. Eliminate the prohibition against changing the shift of an employee who has 15 or more years of service.
Nonstarter ______ Negotiable _______
12. Lengthen the years of service needed for respective vacation weeks
Nonstarter ______ If Mgmt does ______ Negotiable _______
13. Eliminate the 15 single sick days.
Nonstarter ______ If Mgmt does ______ Negotiable _______
14. Reduce lay off benefits to 1 week for every year of service with a cap of 26 weeks
Nonstarter ______ Negotiable _______
15. Eliminate the 3rd week of severance pay for employees laid off out of seniority order and from outsourcing/new technology.
Nonstarter ______ Negotiable _______
16. Elimination of notice period for lay off (currently 30 days or 4 weeks pay)
Nonstarter ______ Negotiable _______
17. Expand the work day to 8 hours (40 hour work week).
Nonstarter ______ Negotiable _______
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