January 10, 2006

 

GUILD FILING CHARGE

WITH LABOR BOARD

Standard & Poor’s Draws Battle Lines

 

The Guild is in the process of filing an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board in connection with Standard & Poor’s unilateral implementation of its “newly enhanced Personal Securities Trading System (PSTS)” that the company announced in an email Monday.

 

The email also notifies you that you are required to access PSTS and complete the certification process on or before January 30, 2006. Since you should not disobey a direct order, we advise you to comply with the instruction under protest.

 

On Tuesday, December 27, 2005, just days after Unit Chairperson Ed Fannon suffered a heart attack, Guild negotiators, acknowledging S&P’s eagerness to have a trading policy in place by the first of the year, agreed to meet on that single issue in an attempt to reach an agreement. But the company’s reluctance to make significant movement on two key issues made reaching an agreement impossible.

 

The company steadfastly clung to its demand that any transaction of stock by an employee would have to be approved in advance and it refused to put a timeframe on when that approval would come. If a system were to be set up in which the company had to make a decision within a specified period of time, default for not making that decision would be a rejection of the transaction, the company insisted.

 

Showing some movement, the company said it would require employees to hold a stock for 45 days before selling it for a profit instead of the 60 days it was originally demanding.  The Guild said 45 days was still too long.

 

Suggesting that S&P might attempt to implement the trading policy without the Guild’s consent or approval, Steve Macri, a lawyer from the firm of Putney, Twombley, Hall & Hirson, put the company’s “best offer for resolution of the policy” on the record.

 

Under labor law, if a true impasse is reached on a particular item in negotiations, management can implement its “last best offer.”

 

The union’s lead negotiator, N.Y. Guild President Barry Lipton, told Macri that we were far from an impasse and, if he attempted to impose one, the union would seek every legal remedy available to it.

 

Days after the session, Macri followed with a letter to Lipton, stating: “the Company requires immediate resolution of the outstanding issues associated with the policy . . .”

 

In the letter dated December 29, Macri said he is “mindful of the personal demands placed upon all of us during the holiday season and the specific union concerns associated with Ed Fannon’s absence,” but he offered to meet Thursday, January 5, “for resolution of this matter as well as the economic issues necessary to resolve the collective bargaining agreement.”

 

Lipton responded: “Ed has played an important role in the Guild’s collective bargaining negotiations with Standard & Poor’s. While we expect that Ed will be able to resume his important role as Unit Chair and his place on the Guild’s bargaining committee shortly, he is not available to attend a bargaining session on January 5, 2006 due to his current medical condition.”

 

Barry assured Macri that he has “our commitment that we will schedule a bargaining session with Standard & Poor’s as soon as Ed returns.” He also pointed out that an impasse had not been reached.

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01/10/05