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51: November/December 200722 newsroom employees depart in Journal Sentinel buyout 22 newsroom employees depart in Journal Sentinel buyoutThe Journal Sentinel's recent voluntary buyout program resulted in 22 people leaving the newsroom. Of those 22, 18 were represented by Local 51. The Guild worked with a number of those people to get questions answered and provide information. Soon after the buyout was announced in early October, Guild members worked to provide two sets of Q&As, answering basic questions that had come from members and from Guild leaders. The company had said it was seeking 35 to 50 people from throughout the company to take the buyout. The companywide number was higher than that, with the newsroom providing a higher-than-average number toward the total. Many of those who took the buyout left on Nov. 15. A handful left at the end of November, and a few more worked into mid-December. The company has said it will hire to replace some of those who left through the buyout. How many is not certain, but a handful of those jobs have been posted, and there are postings pending for several jobs vacated before the buyout. Guild looks for strength in numbersThe Guild has launched a new membership drive aimed at signing up the nonmembers among us. Of the 22 newsroom staffers who left in the buyout, 18 were members of our bargaining unit and, of those, 10 were enrolled Guild members. That means our membership is down just as we head into 2008 when we will be bargaining a new contract. We need to be as strong as we can be to get what we want in those negotiations, and there is strength in numbers. The week after management announced the number of newsroom employees who had been accepted in the buyout, a card was mailed to all staffers in our bargaining unit who are not enrolled Guild members. The card was headlined, "At a time like this we need to stick together." It noted the recent buyouts and the expiration of our contract in December 2008. That mailing was followed up two weeks later with a second mailed card headlined, "United we bargain. Divided we beg." Both cards urged recipients to "join us," reminding them that "it's your union." Now, we need every Guild member to help take the membership campaign to the next level. A one-on-one appeal has always been our best method for signing up new members, and we've been very successful at it over the years with newly hired newsroom staffers. Now, we're turning our attention to the longtime nonmembers, many of whom may not have been approached to join the Guild in a long time. Guild members are being asked to urge nonmembers to sign up before contract talks begin in spring. A brochure is being prepared explaining the Guild's history, what we do, how we're organized and the dues structure. As an incentive to join, an expanded dues rebate has been proposed that would reward new members with a month of free dues. Members who sign up new members would continue to receive a rebate check for a month of their dues for each person they sign up. If approved, the double rebate policy would end in mid-April. Members will vote on the revised dues rebate policy at the general membership meeting Jan. 8. Save the dateThe next Guild membership meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 8, at noon upstairs at Turner Hall. As always, lunch will be served. We'll talk about the aftermath of the buyouts and how our newsroom and our jobs are changing as a result. In addition, members will be asked to vote to fill two Executive Board posts. Karen Samelson is running for secretary, and Kawanza Newson is seeking Samelson's at-large board seat. Nominations also will be accepted from the floor. Also scheduled to be put to a vote of the members at the meeting is whether to implement an expanded limited-time dues rebate policy to coincide with a new Guild membership campaign. Guild members who sign up a new member would continue to be rewarded with a one-month rebate of their dues. But, under the proposed policy, the rebate also would be extended to the new members. Guild members named to new postsIt hasn't been that long since the last Milwaukee Newspaper Guild election, but it's already time for another one. Our Jan. 8 membership meeting will feature special elections for two Executive Board seats. In November, the board appointed day copy editor Karen Samelson as secretary, to replace metro reporter Sarah Carr, who was elected at the September annual meeting but then left the Journal Sentinel. In December, the board replaced Samelson as a board member with the person Carr replaced as secretary: metro reporter Kawanza Newson. Both appointments last until the membership meeting, when members will vote on filling the seats for the rest of the term, which ends Sept. 30. Samelson started her first term as an at-large board member on Oct. 1. She also is chair of the local's Human Rights Committee. Newson was our longest-serving secretary, holding the office for three full terms and part of an unexpired term before deciding not to seek re-election in the fall. She also has been our social chair and a steward. Also in December, the board appointed Carol Deptolla as a steward leader, in charge of contract enforcement, membership and mobilizing for the copy desk, night graphics/design staff, national desk, opinion staff and metro desk editorial assistants. She will fill the term of Jerry Ziegler, the only Guild leader to take the buyout. Deptolla is an assistant copy desk chief on the night shift, as was Ziegler. Deptolla previously served two terms as a steward leader, in addition to two terms as 2nd vice president, one term as a board member and a stint as newsletter editor. She was most recently a night shift steward. The board also reappointed metro reporter Susanne Rust to a third term as Health and Safety Committee chair. Press Club contestAgain this year, the Guild will pay the entry fee for any Guild member who wants to submit work to the Milwaukee Press Club's Excellence in Journalism contest. The Guild will pay for one entry per member. The contest is a fund-raiser for the Press Club. The Guild has been paying entry fees for its members since the Journal Sentinel decided it would no longer participate in the contest. The deadline for entries is Jan. 25. See www.milwaukeepress club.org for more information. Guild members who wish to submit entries should contact their stewards. International guild candidates speak at forumIt was a standing-room-only crowd at The Newspaper Guild's November Multi-Council meeting in Chicago. President Amy Rinard and Jennie Tunkieicz represented the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild. Tunkieicz is president of the Midwest District Council, which has representatives from every TNG local in the Midwest region. The main attraction at the weekend conference Nov. 9-11 was a candidate forum for the offices of TNG president, secretary-treasurer and international chairperson. Bernie Lunzer, TNG secretary-treasurer, is challenging President Linda Foley. Running with Lunzer on what he's calling the A Stronger Guild platform, is Carol Rothman, who is chairperson, for secretary-treasurer, and Connie Knox for chairperson. Knox is a regional vice-president on the international executive council. Running with Foley on what she is calling the Team Guild platform, is Scott Stephens for secretary-treasurer and Lois Kirkup for international chairperson. Stephens and Kirkup are regional vice-presidents on the international executive council. While the candidates have chosen sides, there will not be tickets in the election, which will be held at each local across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico in April. Candidates will be listed as individuals. Each Milwaukee Guild member will get more information about when and how to vote as the election draws closer. More than 80 people from across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico attended the meeting, which was hosted by the Midwest District Council. Some highlights from the debate, as reported in the Guild Reporter: Don Jensen, a 32-year veteran at the Kenosha News who retired a decade ago, moderated the trio of debates. Foley emphasized her role in a recent seminar at the University of Maryland on "The Future of News Jobs," stressing a need to move the Guild beyond its traditional workplace orientation to appeal to professionals who want to pursue media/information careers, including sales and customer service. She also contended that the Guild must lead the way in adapting to digital media, and repeatedly came back to the theme of local empowerment. Lunzer's focus was on reconnecting with members; transparency in relations with members; alternative ownership structures; recognizing that the same problems in the media and online occur in Canada, the U.S. and Puerto Rico; and ensuring that the international is the best resource for those in the field. Both agreed on the need for bringing in more members of color, more women and younger employees and those new to unions. They also found common ground in affirming the financial clout provided by the merger with the CWA. The conference, however, was about more than just the election. Rinard and Tunkieicz also participated in an exercise aimed at finding ways to get members who are considered the Next Generation (roughly age 35 and under) involved in union activities and how to make issues more relevant to them. The most important part of any council meeting is the time Guild members spend sharing information about what is going on at their individual locals. Rinard and Tunkieicz learned a great deal about various membership drives, unique approaches to addressing issues such as Internet work and the need for training, and a variety of other issues. There were also emotional testimonials from locals that survived long contract battles, and the demise of one local as the result of the paper closing. We're here to help in time of change
Some positions now vacant as a result of the buyout have been posted and likely several of them will be filled from within. That will set off a new round of job vacancies and work shifting. Newsroom managers have said it will take some time to come up with a comprehensive plan for moving forward with a downsized newsroom. In the meantime, as things change and we all pitch in to make sure the work continues to get done at the same high level of quality, here are some things to keep in mind: Don't work for free. Our contract provides for overtime pay, or compensating time off by mutual agreement, at the rate of time-and-a-half for work done in excess of the standard 8-hour workday, not including a lunch period. Alert your supervisor if you are approaching an overtime situation. If you work overtime, file for it. Get what you deserve. The Guild contract also provides for additional pay for those working at least half their shift at night, on a Saturday or a Sunday, on a holiday, or after 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve. Also, any bargaining unit member who works a full shift substituting in a position that is not part of our bargaining unit is eligible to receive an extra $20 a shift, under our contract. These pay enhancements have been won and their amounts increased over the last 23 years by Guild contract bargainers. If you find yourself in one of these situations, claim what you are owed. Management expects it; they signed the contract, too. Talk to us. In the wake of the buyouts, Guild leaders are monitoring closely shifts in staff workloads, changing assignments and who is being asked to do what in the downtown newsroom and the bureaus. One of our key concerns is that staffers don't get overloaded with work to the point that their job performance is compromised and the quality of the newspaper and JSOnline suffer as a result. So, let us know what's happening to you and those around you in this new post-buyout world. Call or e-mail me or Greg Pearson or any other Guild officer or executive board member whose names are on the left side of this page. Editor Marty Kaiser has asked for input from the Guild in this transition period. We intend to have a voice in this on your behalf, so let us know what you think.
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