28 October 2003

Osprey pressures Whig-Standard workers
into accepting befuddling final offers

Kingston Typographical Union | TNG Canada Local 30204

The tale of the Trojan Horse came to life in contract negotiations at the Kingston Whig-Standard, where workers on Sunday reluctantly accepted management's final offers.

Osprey Media Group built the horse, loaded it with controversial proposals, and rolled it into the middle of talks to renew six bargaining unit contracts at the Ontario daily. The collective agreements, which cover 130 full- and part-time workers in editorial, advertising, business office, mailroom and reader sales, expired on Jan. 18.

For 10 months, negotiators for Osprey refused to budge and held most of those controversial issues on the table until the Kingston Typographical Union had no choice but to apply for conciliation, which eventually turned into mediation.

In the end, on Oct. 26, and three days past a strike/lockout deadline, the union team brought before the members six final offers that were so disjointed and incomplete that even the negotiating committee couldn't completely comprehend or understand them, says Paul Schliesmann, vice-president of the Local.

This strategy worked in the company's favour. Hidden in the documents were a number of changes in wording that could have longlasting, negative repercussions. It may take weeks before the committee is able to sift through the clauses rammed down their throats.

In fact, while the union team was locked away in a hotel room poring over the company offers, managers were holding so-called information sessions with union members, says Schliesmann. The Local has since filed an unfair labour practice charge. And the union has since learned that at least one individual was called into a manager's office and instructed which way to vote.

To make members capitulate, the company didn't offer 10 months of retroactive pay but, rather, a so-called "signing bonus" that would be paid only if the final offers were accepted on Oct. 26.

In the end, a slim majority of workers voted to accept the offers, which will provide two-per-cent pay increases in each of the three years of the collective agreement, and scant increases to pension contributions and dental and vision-care benefits.

The Trojan Horse contract will eventually be ratified by both parties, predicts Schliesmann. "And then we'll see just how dangerous its contents really are."