July 7, 2009

Now That the Fireworks Are Done, What’s Next?

When CU management lit the sky with its holiday fireworks – a list of 21 individuals that would be given the ax (presented to the Guild on Thursday) if the union doesn’t come up with its pound of flesh to the tune of $1.8 million in savings all in the name of “shared sacrifice” – it set the clock in motion toward a deadline early in August.

According to the contract, the company must give the Guild five weeks’ notice prior to any layoff. If requested by the Guild, the pact dictates CU will spend the first 10 working days of that period discussing the layoffs and you can bet your bottom dollar we want to talk about them.

As you’ve already been notified, a Unit Council that had been scheduled for Tuesday has been put off to accommodate negotiations with the company. The Guild is committed to doing everything possible and responsible to save jobs.

As you’re probably aware, the Guild already presented the company with a proposal we believed would result in a savings of $1,529,229.60, but when it passed the company’s carving station, management officials said it represented about $275,000 in cuts.

If no agreement is reached on savings that will satisfy CU, the company will have the ability to notify the employees targeted for layoff on July 17. According to a side-letter agreement, neither the company nor the Guild is permitted to disclose the named individuals prior to that date. The targeted employees would then be given three weeks’ notice or pay in lieu of notice. In the past, CU has given pay in lieu of notice and sent employees on their way. We’re hoping that will not happen this time. We want CU to keep people on the job; we want CU to keep talking; we want those jobs saved. It was a dirty enough trick handing over a list of potential layoffs in the 11^th hour before a holiday weekend, CU doesn’t have to send people on their way on the day they’re told their number is up.

The official date for actual layoffs – after the notification - would then be August 6 or 7.

If layoffs are not averted, anyone with at least six months of service, but less than five years of continuous service at CU would receive separation pay. Separation pay would be one week’s pay for each six months of continuous service with the Publisher.

There is no severance pay in the CU contract. That was given up years ago when very major improvements were made in the Defined Benefit Pension Plan.

According to the contract, no employee whose hiring date was prior to January 1, 2000, can be affected by this layoff.

The contract dictates that layoffs must be made in inverse order of seniority within the job classification – last one in, first out, in the job classification – except that employees engaged in special functions and employees of outstanding ability may be passed over. Employees dismissed in a layoff are placed on a rehire list for a year, to be recalled in order of seniority if there is an opening in his or her classifications.

Why 21 layoffs? In a previous meeting, the company had said about 18, the majority of which would come from the Guild. Admittedly, it was a guess on the company’s part.

But beyond that, maybe the company actually believed it might be including some management personnel at that point in time. And management personnel make more money. Once CU decided the ax was going to fell entirely on the Guild, management had to lay off more Guild people. Eighteen was a guess at what it would take to get to $1.8 million. The company found out it didn’t get that high by reducing 18 Guild people. It had to cut off 21 heads.

“The truly sad thing about this whole situation is that no layoffs are necessary,” New York Guild President Bill O’Meara commented. “The financial expert we hired to examine CU’s books told us that. But whether there is a need or not, the company has the unilateral right under the contract to determine the size of its staff. So with the threat of these layoffs looming over our heads, we’re going to negotiate with the company in an effort to avert them. We’re going to negotiate in good faith. We only hope, at the end of the day, the company will be able to honestly say that it did the same thing.”