GR EXTRA!

Tentative deal in Akron goes to a vote Friday

02 Mar 2010

The Guild Reporter

The Northeast Ohio Guild and the Akron Beacon Journal have reached tentative agreement on a new three-year contract. Few details have been released, pending a ratification vote this Friday, but Guild officials conceded the pact is a concessionary one -- although less so than originally demanded by the company.
 
Contract negotiations had dragged on for more than 20 months, with the Black Press-owned newspaper demanding a 17% wage cut and deep cuts in other benefits. Also under attack were seniority, severance pay, vacation and retiree health insurance. Although the final tentative agreement makes numerous changes in the expired contract, Guild leaders emphasized that the final result could have been much worse.

Last month, the unit's Guild members all but unanimously approved strike authorization for the bargaining team, which may have helped break the logjam.

The Akron Beacon Journal is owned by Black Press, which late last week also said it it is buying the Honolulu Advertiser from Gannett and expects to merge it with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, which it already owns. If the deal goes through as announced, the Hawaii Guild expects numerous layoffs.

Black Press owner David Black also is a principal owner of the San Diego Union-Tribune, where Teamster-represented employees were forced to accept 16% cuts in pay and benefits. The union last week filed an unfair labor practice charge after its members were photographed and threatened while distributing leaflets protesting management's refusal to bargain in good faith.