23 March 2004

Resolute for 7 months,
daily's workers get deal

Moncton Typographical Union | TNG Canada Local 30636

It took seven months of negotiating, a unanimous strike mandate, a 40-1 rejection of the company's original offer followed by three revisions to a final offer, but Guild members finally have a new deal with the Times & Transcript.

The Moncton Typographical Union, representing 37 employees in the New Brunswick daily's newsroom, mailing room and pressroom, voted 24-12 to accept the company's offer on March 17, one day after the negotiating committee agreed to recommend it.

The committee duly made its recommendation, but not without some reservations from mailing room representative Bill Godbout. He told members he would recommend the offer with the exception of the union's agreement to the elimination of a jurisdictional clause protecting the right of union members to operate the mailing room.

The loss of the clause will ultimately lead to the elimination of two of the four remaining journeyman mailing room positions at the Times & Transcript, published by Brunswick News Inc.

Unfortunately, the larger picture at the newspaper is even more serious, says Rod Allen, president of the Local.

"We also agreed to the introduction of a new classification in the mailing room called 'insert machine operator.' This position will be paid 75 per cent of the journeyman rate," says Allen. "At the same time, we were also faced with the acceptance of a clause that had been agreed to in the previous contract, allowing for another new classification called 'paper handler.'

"These people will be paid roughly half the journeyman rate and although we achieved language to protect the seven pressmen remaining in the building, you can see where this is going. It will be difficult to avoid situations where paper handlers are doing the same work as pressmen, for half the pay."

Through Brunswick News, the powerful Irving family owns all of the English-language newspapers in the province. The company is well known for its union-busting tactics at the daily newspapers it publishes.

Allen says Brunswick News backed off another of its proposals when negotiations began last August, to introduce yet another new classification called 'page assemblers' in the newsroom. These proposed employees, who would also draw roughly half the journeyman rate, would be doing the same work as journeyman paginators, who traditionally at the Times & Transcript have been regarded — at least by the union — as editors.

Despite that small victory, the union clearly lost ground in this round of negotiations, says Allen.

"Believe me, we considered an action as the only way to get this company to back away from what we see as its fundamental position, which we believe is to cut pay for all new unionized workers in half."

"Obviously we didn't feel ready to strike this time, but this is a very short contract and, if they come back at us with proposals for more new classifications, we'll have to take a tougher stand," says Allen.

"After many years of consistently eroding the crafts working at our paper, the Local is now dominated by newsroom employees and frankly, they're wondering what they're going to hear next."

But as it stands, the Local is not without its victories in this round.

The original company proposal called for a two-year contract with a two-per-cent wage increase each year. The final offer added three months to the contract, now expiring at the end of September 2005, with a 2.5-per-cent increase in the final 15 months. The previous contract expired at the end of June 2003.

The union also managed to temporarily hold off a company move — already achieved at its dailies in Fredericton and Saint John — to increase the number of years required to acquire more vacation time. Union members won't be subject to the new schedule until a month before the new contract expires.

"At least a few more union members will qualify for their next week of vacation on the old schedule," says Allen, adding that union members also saw some marginal improvements in mileage and equipment allowances in this agreement.

The Local also made considerable strides in improving the severance package for 12 unionized members of the newspaper's former composing room, who grieved a company action three years ago to eliminate the department and replace workers with non-union 'ad assemblers' for roughly half the journeyman rate.

In Allen's view, the Local made significant progress in a less tangible area during this round of negotiations, which he believes will serve members well in the future.

"Two years ago some monthly meetings were attended by as few as a dozen members, but over the past seven months the turnout has been between 90 and 100 per cent. Our members are now alert to what it perceives to be the long-term goals of the employer and from now on, I expect we will be more vigilant."