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12 April 2005
Gazette workers break old patterns,
sign
deals early
Montreal Newspaper Guild | TNG Canada
Local 30111
Guild members at The
Gazette who've just ratified
new contracts are awash in firsts. For starters, they reached
a new deal two months before the existing agreement was due
to expire.
Although other Locals have similarly
settled early, "this
was a first time for me and it was definitely unusual for
Montreal," says TNG Canada Staff Representative David
Wilson. "In the past, the main bargaining unit could
go on for a year, a year-and-a-half, easily (past a contract
expiry date)."
"This time, we managed to break an old pattern," says
Wilson. "Before, the employer would offer a $500 or
$1,000 signing bonus effective the day of ratification. There
was no retroactivity, which meant employees could go a year
or more with no salary increase.
"In this case, we did it two
months in advance, so the new contract comes into effect
two months before the expiry date (of June 1, 2005)."
The three-year contracts that cover
almost 300 Guild members in Reader Sales & Service,
Editorial and Advertising were ratified early last week,
but took effect on April 1. The agreements run until June
1, 2008 and provide for increases of 2.5, 2.5 and 3.0 per
cent.
"An important point to note," says Charles Shannon,
2nd vice-president of the Local, "is that, by kicking
in two months before the contract was to expire, the total
increase this first year will be the equivalent of 2.9 per
cent."
He says it was management at the
CanWest-owned daily newspaper that proposed an "expedited bargaining" process. "We
set aside five days for the experiment. As it was, we wrapped
up in four."
"The bargaining," says Shannon, "was more
efficient and — not to be scoffed at — cheaper."
Also, "the combining of three
bargaining units into one joint team gave each one more
clout."
Other improvements include:
- night-shift differential increased to
eight dollars from six;
- vision-care coverage $200 every 24 months,
up from $150;
- car allowance for photographers and outside
Advertising Sales representatives increased to $700 a
month from $600.
Shannon says the Local "made
other modest gains, many having to do with improved notification
to the Guild. Two positions were reclassified upward, and
six 'perma-temps' were redesignated full time."
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