July 25, 2005

WHERE THERE'S LIFE,

THERE'S (THE) GUILD

 

As we were saying before we were interrupted . . . .

 

The Newspaper Guild at Time Inc. takes great pleasure in welcoming back to the Time & Life Building one of the great publications of the 20th century, LIFE magazine, this time as a weekly.

 

An arbitrator has ruled that employees of LIFE Magazine are covered by the Guild contract.

 

Time Inc.'s contract with the Guild is very clear in stating that we represent employees in the Editorial Departments of TIME, LIFE, FORTUNE, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, MONEY, and PEOPLE magazines.

 

Time Inc. had claimed that LIFE was not LIFE anymore, and attempted to deny those employees coverage under the union contract.

 

In an arbitration hearing held to settle the dispute, on June 7, a Proskauer Rose attorney representing Time Inc. said that LIFE was called LIFE when it was resurrected in 2004 because the company wanted to capitalize on the brand name of the defunct publication, but the company really didn't mean it.

 

The company’s attorney said that the new LIFE is a completely different animal.  He pointed out that LIFE today is not sold on newsstands or by subscription (as was the case in the past), but is sold to newspapers as a free insert in the Thursday, Friday, or Saturday papers. He argued that the size of the new LIFE is different and its content is different because it includes interviews with celebrities, recipes, and entertainment picks. It has a new business plan, a new editorial and business staff, and new quarters.

 

However, arbitrator Janet Maleson Spencer found that management's "emphasis on characteristics of the new LIFE that differ from the old, flies in the face of Time Inc.'s insistence that the new LIFE is the resurrection of the old LIFE."

 

She wrote: "For example, a web-site ad for the new LIFE states, 'One of America's most iconic magazines is back! Appearing in your local newspaper every week, LIFE returns with its signature photography, photo essays, and tips and ideas on how to make the most of your weekend.'

 

"If the Publisher so minimizes distinguishing characteristics when describing the product to the reading public, I find it hard to conclude we are dealing with a wholly different product in the context of this case."

 

Time Inc. published the original LIFE Magazine, a weekly, from 1936 to 1972. It has been in Guild jurisdiction as far back as the 1940s. It went dark in 1972 before Time Inc. began publishing it again, this time as a monthly, from 1978 until 2000. When it returned the first time in 1978, Time Inc. did not challenge the Guild's jurisdiction.

 

In rendering her decision, Arbitrator Spencer, who noted that the Guild had a “straightforward and compelling argument,” ordered that "application of the collective bargaining agreement shall be retroactive to the initial date of publication of the magazine in October, 2004, and the Employer shall make LIFE employees covered by the collective bargaining agreement whole for losses sustained as a result of its failure to apply the contract to such employees.”

 

It's wonderful to be able to welcome LIFE back. The Guild, which has represented the editorial employees at LIFE ever since it was elected by the workers as their union at Time Inc., looks forward to this new chapter in LIFE's history and to representing its employees once more.

 

The Guild is making an information request of the company to determine exactly what is owed to the LIFE workers.

 

If anyone on the LIFE Magazine staff has any questions about the Guild, would like a copy of our contract with Time Inc. or wants information about joining, the employee should contact Unit Chairperson Alex Blanco at 212-522-4187 or Bob Townsend, the Guild's Local Representative assigned to Time Inc. employees, at 212-730-1532.

 

(Editor’s Note: In response to the Guild’s filing the arbitration, Time Inc. went on the offensive.  It asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to declare that LIFE employees are not represented by the Guild. The NLRB has not yet acted on that request, but because Spencer found that “the language of [the contract] identifying editorial employees of LIFE as covered employees is clear and unambiguous,” the Guild is hopeful that Time Inc. will withdraw its claim.)

 

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07/25/05