11 December 2003

Sault Star workers 'go ballistic'
over stingy offer

Sault Ste. Marie Typographical Union | TNG Canada Local 30746

Employees at the daily newspaper in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., have resoundingly told Osprey Media Group what it can do with its stingy contract offer.

Two of three bargaining units at The Sault Star voted Wednesday to reject the offer, which had been put to them by their negotiating committee with no recommendation.

"This is a stong show of support for the bargaining committee," says Linda Richardson, president of the Sault Ste. Marie Typographical Union. The Local represents 38 members in the editorial, advertising, reader sales and mailroom departments, whose contract expired Aug. 31.

TNG Canada Eastern Rep David Esposti says "the membership went ballistic" when presented with the offer and voted to reject so as not to "cut the bargaining team off at the knees."

Esposti says Osprey negotiator Tim Harvey must now consult with the Star's publisher and decide whether the company will improve its offer, stand firm or do nothing. If Osprey chooses either of the latter two options, the union will ask for conciliation, he says.

After four days of negotiations, two of which were spent on monetary issues, the company proposed a three-year contract with increases of two per cent in each year, tiny increases in mileage (half a cent in each year), and a slight improvement in the sixth week of vacation.

But the cruncher, according to Esposti, was a 'signing bonus' of $450 -- actually a combination of retroactive pay and signing bonus -- but only if the membership ratified the deal by Monday, Dec. 15. The union negotiators were unable to persuade the employer to increase the amount to $500 and to ditch the deadline (designed to put pressure on members).

It was largely due to the $50 differential in the signing bonus, and the deadline attached to it, says Esposti, that led to the proposal being rejected by the editorial and reader sales departments. (It was accepted by the advertising department.)

"They really, really resent the nickel-and-dime negotiating that is typical of Tim Harvey and Osprey," says Esposti of the membership. "I called Harvey (after the vote) and he said the $450 offer would die on Dec. 15. And I said, 'That's a big mistake. You're only going to make things worse'."