|
Negotiation Updates...
FRIDAY, JANUARY 19
Most
valuable resource devastated
Two years ago, Ann Moore, Time Inc.’s Chief Executive, was hailing
its employees as its “most valuable resource.” Thursday, after
completing a year in which it notched a profit of about 18%, Time
Inc. it announced plans to slash almost 300 jobs company-wide,
slightly more than 100 of them Guild-represented.
MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 2007
Staff cuts seen,
severance cuts proposed
On January 3 at the contract negotiations between the Guild and Time Inc.,
management’s outside lawyer said the Guild could look forward to employment
for “as many people as possible” as a consequence of the negotiations. It
seemed to be his polite way of saying the company wasn’t going to give the
Guild anything it is asking for. The Guild replied that layoffs were
imminent.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2007
Unhappy New Year (Part
2); Radical proposals would roll back decades of gains
The contract proposals of Time Inc. represent a huge attack on the Guild and
all workers at the company. All proposals adopted would be imposed on all
non-Guild workers as well. These changes show us all what already would most
likely have happened if there were no union to push back at Time Inc.
Perhaps the most draconian and dramatic management proposal would add five
hours to our basic workweek, and no compensatory increase in wages
has been proposed. This amounts to a 14.28% increase in work.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 2007
Unhappy New Year (Part 1);
Cold greetings from Time Inc. at first 2007
meeting
The contract negotiations between Time Inc. and The Newspaper Guild
continued on Wednesday, January 3, but the first session of the new year
held no cheer for the company’s employees, whether Guild-covered or not.
When asked by the Guild what gains it could look forward to in the contract
talks, the company’s outside lawyer said that Time Inc. hoped “to keep as
many people as possible employed in this wonderful company.” He doesn’t have to worry about being laid off later this month,
because he isn’t employed by Time Inc.
|
