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April
16, 2002
The
Guild at Time Inc. is a union representing about 720 Guild-covered
employees (edit staff of FORTUNE, FORTUNE SMALL BUSINESS, MONEY, PEOPLE,
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, and TIME). Without
the support of members, the Guild could not exist.
To become a member of the Guild you need to fill out a membership
card and dues authorization form. By
joining the Guild, you can help make it stronger.
Have you thought about joining? The
Top Ten Excuses Not to Join The Newspaper Guild REFUTED 1.
I don't want to pay 1.38% of my base salary in Guild dues. Keep
in mind that the Guild negotiated an average of a 4% raise in pay to be
given every February 1 to all employees making less than $61,500 (did
you get yours?). This is almost three times what Guild dues are. Many
of your colleagues, often those with smaller salaries, do pay their
1.38% as members of the Guild. They are paying to ensure that the Guild
can continue to exist and work to preserve our rights and benefits. That is a cause we can, and should, support!
Dues go to fund the operations of the New York Guild, including
our professional Local Representative, our lawyers, financial analysts
and others who help us to negotiate the contract, enforce its terms and
win victories for members such as the recent stock option settlement. 2.
I don't know if I'm a member. All
non-management edit employees (about 720 of us) are covered by the
contract and are part of the Guild's “bargaining unit.” But becoming
a member of the Guild is something you have to elect to do,
because we're an “open shop.” You can do that by filling out the
form attached to this page. If you're not sure if you're a member, just
look at your paycheck; if you are a member, you should see a dues
deduction in the “After-Tax Deductions” section. 3.
The Guild is weak and doesn't do anything. All
of the rights you enjoy under the collective bargaining agreement are
there because the Guild negotiated them and works to enforce them on an
ongoing basis. There are a
few active Guild Unit Council members who dedicate a lot of their time
and energy to fighting for the rights of all bargaining unit members at
Time Inc. While a few Unit
Council officers and members may receive some time out of their work
schedule to attend to union matters, they do not receive any extra
compensation for their efforts. Often
they spend many hours on their own time working to resolve disputes with
management and building the strength of the union. On
a regular basis, members of the Guild meet with management to discuss a
number of issues, including problems with managers, changes in benefits,
and disputes and questions about the contract. In
order for the Guild to be as effective as possible, it needs the support
of its members. There is a
common saying in the labor movement, “together we stand, divided we
fall.” That simple
statement proves true time and time again.
If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense.
You can accomplish a lot more with a united group than you can by
yourself. Simply
put, the strength of the Guild is directly linked to its members.
Help make the Guild stronger- sign a membership card and become a
dues paying member today! If
you are already a member, do your part and encourage a co-worker to join
the Guild. We are all in
this together. 4.
I don't like Jane Doe, who is on the Unit Council. Remember,
if you don't join because you don't like Jane Doe, you are not hurting
Jane Doe. You are really hurting all Guild-covered employees who depend
on the strength of the union to stand up to AOL Time Warner. Your
membership is critical to that strength, regardless of who is in the
Guild leadership. And if
you don’t like Jane Doe, become a dues-paying member.
Then you can vote for someone else in the next election, or run
yourself! 5.
I'm leaving soon. You
would be surprised how many people say they are leaving and end up
staying, for one reason or another.
You should join the Guild so that you can do your part to make
sure that the Guild is as strong as it can possibly be for the remainder
of your employment. You
should also know that if you plan on leaving with a separation package,
that separation package, like the other benefits you enjoyed during your
employment (e.g., 35-hour work week, night-work bonus, generous holiday
and vacation pay, the unique sabbatical program, and night
transportation), will likely be the result of the Guild’s
negotiations. It is never too late to join the Guild.
Repeat. It is never
too late to join the Guild. Make
up for lost time and join the Guild today! 6.
The Guild always seems angry about something. I don't like the tone of
the On Time newsletters. The
Guild’s primary function is to uphold the rights and benefits of
Guild-covered employees. When
the Company follows the contract, adheres to the labor laws, and treats
employees well, the Guild has little to complain about.
But when Time Inc. violates the rights of Guild-covered
employees, then the Guild has a duty to pursue grievances aggressively.
Unfortunately, the Company has been doing its part to give the
Guild a lot to complain about lately—nine rounds of layoffs in the
past year! Those
layoffs took place even as departing AOL Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin
was issued stock options roughly equivalent to the earnings of 2,550
employees with average Guild salaries! 7. I'm afraid my manager will find out. Your
manager already knows that you are a Guild-covered employee because of
the position that you are employed in.
It is not a secret. In
any case, if you choose to become a member, it is unlikely that your
manager would even learn of your decision.
Human Resources handles all dues deductions.
Moreover, your right to join a union is protected by the National
Labor Relations Act and is even found in the UN Declaration on Human
Rights. Many people make sacrifices just to ensure this right. If
you join the Guild and feel you are being harassed because of your Guild
membership, call the Guild and it will fight on your behalf.
It is illegal for your manager to discriminate against you or
discipline you for exercising your right to join the Guild. 8.
I'll think about it. Think
quickly. Our current
contract runs until February 2004. That means we'll have to start
preparing for negotiations early next year. It sounds like a long way
off, but it really isn't. If we intend to keep our benefits and jobs, or
improve them, we need to start building the Guild now. Time Inc.
Editor-in-Chief Norman Pearlstine has publicly said that the Time Inc.
staff could be reduced by half within ten years. The company has already
started to reduce staff (see #6). We
need to send a message to Time Inc. that we are united, and we can do
that by improving the number of dues paying members. 9.
I don’t want to join when I can get all of the benefits the Guild
fought for, and I can get them free. This
is the most common excuse people use for not joining the Guild.
After all, who would pay taxes if not legally forced to do so?
The question is, for how long will we have those benefits if the Guild
has 10.
It won't make a difference if I join the Guild. If
you’ve read everything up to this point, it should be clear by now
that every person who joins the Guild makes a difference.
Time Inc. would prefer the Guild to be weak so that it can’t
stand in the way of plans to make profits at the expense of
Guild-covered employees’ jobs and benefits.
Management does not want to help the Guild by adding more numbers
to its ranks. To the
contrary, Management has maintained its position regarding an open shop
(rather than a union shop in which everyone in a Guild-covered position
must pay dues) and has fought hard to ensure that employees at its new
magazines, such as the former TIME Digital, would not be part of
our Guild bargaining unit. Time
Inc. understands that more members equal more Guild power. Unions
work because of the strength of the group.
If you join others will follow, especially if you talk to them
about your decision and encourage them to join. Join the Guild to protect our jobs and future! # # # # # # # 04/16/02
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