GateHouse issues scorched-earth contract proposal for SJ-R

Dear fellow Newspaper Guild members:

If there ever were a question about whether solidarity would be needed when negotiating with GateHouse Media, that question was answered this past Tuesday and Wednesday. GateHouse’s opening contract proposals for employees of The State Journal-Register newsroom were some of the most onerous and disturbing that The Newspaper Guild has ever seen. Whether GateHouse moves off of those proposals will hinge, in large part, on whether the company continues to see commitment, energy and solidarity from the dedicated members of the Springfield Unit of the United Media Guild.

 When each side exchanged initial demands dealing with everything except pay (that will come later), most notable was the company’s push for an “open shop.” GateHouse basically wants  to treat The State Journal-Register as if it were in a “right-to-work” state like Mississippi or Alabama, where state law bars union contracts from requiring employees to join a union and pay union dues. The SJ-R is in Illinois, not a right-to-work state.

Unions in the United States are required to represent everyone in their unit, and any wage increase bargained by a union must be given to all members of the unit, whether a member of the union or not. So it is only fair that members of the unit join the union that is legally bound to represent them and be required to pay dues to support that representation. This situation is known as a “union shop.” An open shop, on the other hand, creates dissension in a union and makes it much more vulnerable to failure. We will be pushing for a union shop.

 GateHouse’s negotiator gave us a three-page, single-spaced “management rights” proposal — much longer and more detailed that most companies ever expect to get in a labor contract. Based on the wording of the proposal and comments from the company’s negotiator at the bargaining table, the proposal, if accepted by the Guild, would give the company unfettered rights to:

 — Cut everyone’s pay, make everyone a freelancer with no benefits, or switch an employee’s status — week by week — from full to part-time.

— Have advertising representatives, local political activists or community bloggers come into the newsroom, become SJ-R “journalists” and write stories that would be published in the news section of the newspaper.

— Search an employee’s pockets or purse at work, at home or elsewhere in the community, as part of any GateHouse investigation. The company also wants the right to run a surveillance operation on an employee’s home and search an employee’s home computer, unless restricted by local or state laws.

Here’s another shocker: The company proposal would set a specific number of shop stewards that the union could have. Shop stewards monitor the company’s adherence to the contract and advocate for Guild members. When asked why the company wants to insert itself in the day-to-day operations of the union, GateHouse’s negotiator replied with a grin, “We’re just trying to help you out.”

Oh, and by the way, GateHouse wants the contract to prohibit any Guild bulletin boards in the newsroom from containing any communication other than that pertaining to the internal operations of our unit. That we wouldn’t be able to post anything negative about GateHouse, and nothing about any other union in the building or in the community, even if those unions are assisting our unit. All of this is totally unacceptable and an amazing viewpoint for a company whose business is all about the First Amendment and Freedom of Speech.

Our unit is proposing language that would prohibit layoffs during the term of the contract unless the company is able to prove to the unit that any layoffs would be necessary for the newspaper to survive. Our unit is proposing language that would only allow termination for “just cause,” a huge change from the current system in which the company can fire someone for virtually any reason. Our union is proposing a fair, progressive system of discipline, pay enhancements for night work, enhanced benefits for part-timers and extra pay for Guild members when they perform work normally done by management.

We also are proposing language to protect people from discipline when having to juggle additional work created by GateHouse’s Design House in Rockford. And we will be proposing reasonable pay increases when we meet next with GateHouse in early April.

Bargaining will not be an easy or fast process. But as we proceed in the coming months, let’s stick together, keep communicating and maintain support for our bargaining team and negotiators as we advocate for a fair contract. We will be communicating with you through meetings, email, our Facebook page and our WordPress blog. Thanks for all of your support thus far.