December 10,
2003
Vote
in Room 3352 on raises and ending of Merit Pool
The Newspaper Guild at Time Inc. will
hold a general membership meeting to ratify the Contract that was negotiated
with management in October. The
meeting will be held in the Time & Life Building in Room 3352, Money
magazine’s conference room, from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, December
18.
All Guild members in good standing are
eligible to vote on the Contract, and all managers are required to give Guild
members in their areas release time to come to the meeting.
The Contract that has been in force
since 1998 and which was renewed in 2001 is being renewed again, to run from
February 1, 2004, until February 1, 2007. There would be no givebacks in this
Contract, and there could not be any before 2007.
Also, for the first time since the
1970s, all raises every year will be guaranteed for all Guild-covered
employees – it’s the end of the cut-off, the end of the “maybe next
year” raise, and the end of raises at different times of year for different
people.
Now all raises will come on February 1,
and there will be a new section in the Contract saying that the guaranteed
raises (known as the General
Increase) “do not prevent an Employee from seeking … merit increases and
bonuses in addition to the General Increases.” In other words, the raise is
a floor, not a ceiling.
The Guild Negotiating committee, led by
Newspaper Guild of New York President Barry Lipton and Time Inc. Unit
Chairperson John Shostrom, unanimously endorses the Contract and encourages
all members to attend and vote on December 18.
If you are not a member but want to join so you can vote on the Contract, contact Membership Chairperson Alex Blanco at 212-522-4187. Membership sign-up cards will also be available at the December 18 meeting, and you may vote as soon as you sign up.
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12/10/03