March 2, 2006

S&P INFLEXIBLE

Meeting Slated to Hear What You Have to Say

 

          Guild negotiators met with the company Wednesday, hoping to reach a compromise on the two management demands that have been stumbling blocks throughout the talks: the trading policy and performance appraisals, so that we could then address job security and wages, and reach an agreement on our new contract.

 

However, it became apparent very early that there was no hope that was going to happen because Standard & Poor’s negotiators dug in their heels and said there was no chance they were going to move off a 45-day “hold” on a stock unless employees sell it at a loss.

 

N.Y. Guild President Barry Lipton, leading the talks for the union, asked, “If you’re going through a stringent review to purchase the stock, why do you need a hold?” If there were no conflict of interest in purchasing the stock, how could there be a conflict in selling it later?

 

“The whole policy is to discourage non-investment quality trading,” private attorney Steve Macri, the company’s lead negotiator, responded.

 

In arguing for a 45-day hold on an appreciated sell order, the company has claimed it would be conforming to the industry standard. When the Guild challenged S&P to prove it’s the standard, Macri produced a list of companies that had varying degrees of “holds” or none at all.

 

Aside from Moody’s and Fitch Ratings, which directly compete with S&P’s Credit Market Services business segment, the list primarily consisted of money management and mutual funds operations.

 

Moody’s, Fitch, and CMS each performs the same business function: They evaluate credit risk in the debt securities market and then place a value on that risk.

 

Moody’s either doesn’t have a trading policy or it’s undisclosed. Fitch, while it strongly discourages so-called day trading, doesn’t have any holds on a sell order.

 

For S&P management to say its demand is merely complying to the industry standard is, well, a stretch.

 

When the Guild committee became convinced that we were butting our heads into a wall attempting to find a middle ground, we called for a caucus and decided we had to discuss the issue with you, the membership.

 

Back in session, Lipton told the company: “We’re very disappointed that there’s absolutely no flexibility on your selling position. We’re willing to continue to discuss the matter and negotiate with you, but we feel compelled to discuss it and confer with our unit members. Until such time as we have input from our members, we can’t do justice to the negotiating process.”

 

The Unit meeting will be held 11 a.m. at the Bayview Room at 55 Water Street, March 20. This is a very important meeting. We want to hear your opinions, so please make every effort to attend. A separate afternoon meeting will be held at our Brooklyn site.

 

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03/02/06