October 2, 2001 

   

GIVING CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE

S&P Did Some of the Right Things in the WTC Aftermath;

Some Others Remain to be Seen

          Senior Director of Workforce Initiatives and Human Resources John J. Gillen and his predecessor, Bob Temme, told the Guild Friday that officials of McGraw-Hill are considering ways to help alleviate additional expense to employees, who were forced to make changes in their commute due to the tragic events of September 11. 

          Gillen and Temme, who has been serving as a consultant from his home in South Carolina since his retirement, said the recent escalation of commuting nightmares have caused McGraw-Hill bigwigs to look with renewed vigor into the introduction of TransitChek, the program that gives employees the right to put away pre-tax dollars for transportation to and from work. 

          In the interim, however, the Guild was told, the McGraw-Hill hierarchy is looking into possibilities of more immediate ways to help defray additional costs of transportation due to the re-routing of trips to and from work, including a transportation allowance from the company.

         Reminded by the Guild how, in the current contract (which has been printed - you should be receiving a copy shortly), management agreed to a “me-too” clause which states, if the company decides to offer TransitChek to non-union employees, Guild-covered employees will automatically get the opportunity to participate in it as well, Temme said, in the spirit of that agreement, if a transportation allowance is offered, it will be offered to Guild-covered employees.

          (The TransitChek language was the result of the offering of a health club subsidy to non-Guild employees a couple of years ago. In order for Guild-represented employees to get the same deal, managers said, it would have to be negotiated. They didn’t want to give away anything for nothing.)

          The Guild urges S&P management to adopt a travel allowance program during this extraordinary time and we thank management for anything it’s done to make the trauma of working in the Financial District a little easier to cope with during the past few trying weeks.

          (We feel we’re quick enough to point out in a “Spotlight” when management is doing something wrong, we also should be giving credit when it’s due.)

          First of all, of course, S&P offices were, for the most part, closed Wednesday, September 12, to Wednesday, September 19 (with a few “essential” personnel being asked to come in Monday and Tuesday, September 17 and 18). S&P also paid people who felt the need to stay out September 19th, 20th and/or 21st. 

          We told Gillen the company should do something special for the Guild people who came in on the 17th and 18th before the building was officially re-opened. He told us that S&P management was considering doing that, even before we made the suggestion. 

          We commend S&P management for all of those things. 

          Then, S&P offered group-counseling sessions to help deal with the trauma of the horrific events of September 11, and individual follow-ups for any employees who felt they might need them. We commend management for that. 

          Then, there was the question of what happens to people whose vacation coincided with the building being closed. Ed Fannon presented that question to John Gillen. Gillen told Fannon that it was the company’s position that if a person was on vacation, he or she, was on vacation. Vacation time wouldn’t be restored. 

          Fannon argued that there could be extenuating circumstances. He said we knew of an associate editor, who was planning to fly to Florida on September 13. Obviously, he couldn’t fly out on the 13th. And the airports were such a mess that he decided to postpone his travel plans – and vacation – to November. He telephoned the company to report the change, but there was nobody there to take the call. (He left a voice message.) Certainly, the company should consider restoring his vacation time. It’s not like he was in the Florida sun during the entire ordeal and the tragic events didn’t rob him of vacation plans. 

         Gillen agreed the company would look at the vacation issue on a case-by-case basis. We haven’t had a response concerning our request to restore vacation to the associate editor, but we do commend company officials for not slamming the door on the issue. And, if they do the right thing and restore vacation, we’ll commend them for that, too. 

          (Anyone who was on vacation at the time the building was closed and who has special circumstances that they think should warrant the restoration of their vacation, should contact Unit Chairperson Ed Fannon at 3-3804 or Local Representative Bob Townsend at 730-1532.) 

         The New York Newspaper Guild, with approval of the Local’s Executive Committee, donated $2,000 to the Twin Towers Fund, which was set up by the city and state to help the firefighters, police and other uniformed officers who lost their lives in the rescue effort at the World Trade Center. New York Guild President Barry Lipton and Secretary-Treasurer Bill O’Meara urged members to send additional contributions that would be forwarded to the fund. 

          At S&P, the company offered to match donations made by employees, so the Guild would rather the money be donated at S&P and be duplicated. And we commend S&P for that.

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