January 9, 2007

 

Unhappy New Year (Part II)

 

Radical proposals would roll back decades of gains

 

The contract proposals of Time Inc. represent a huge attack on the Guild and all workers at the company. All proposals adopted would be imposed on all non-Guild workers as well. These changes show us all what already would most likely have happened if there were no union to push back at Time Inc.

 

The 40-hour workweek

 

Perhaps the most draconian and dramatic management proposal would add five hours to our basic workweek, and no compensatory increase in wages has been proposed. This amounts to a 14.28% increase in work.

 

Viewed another way, it is a donation of more than 21% of your current pay: The five extra hours are currently paid at the overtime rate of time-and-a-half, so 14.28% in extra time equals 21.42% in extra pay that you won’t get. Could we perhaps deduct this from our taxes as a charitable contribution!

 

Another consequence of this proposal, of course, is that overtime would begin with each Employee’s 41^st hour. Given the current aversion to OT with the present 35-hour standard, this pretty much would eliminate overtime in the future.

 

Finally, this is obviously going to feed Time Inc.’s ever-hungry layoff machine – which is going into high gear later this month. Currently, eight workers at 35 hours per week equals 280 work hours; seven workers at 40 hours per week equals the same. Cutting every eighth worker and his or her benefits would be a huge savings for the company and a huge burden for all of us remaining: The work still needs to get done.

 

Management speaks constantly at negotiations about “getting into the 21^st century,” but the Guild views the 40-hour week very differently: Time Inc. has had a 35-hour workweek since 1951, so the company is seeking to push us back more than 55 years, more than halfway back to the 19^th century!

                    

Sabbaticals: Fuggedaboutit!

 

One of the Guild contract’s most unusual and beloved provisions is the sabbatical. Long used by Employees to recharge their batteries, work on books or other projects, concentrate harder on school, or see the world, it’s one of the things that made Time Inc. a special place to work.

 

Guild negotiating-team members through the decades have probably been asked more about sabbaticals than any other item in the contract except raises. “Are they going to try to take away the sabbaticals?” fearful Employees would ask. No, we could always answer, though in the last full negotiations, in 1998-99, the company proposed cutting their maximum length back to three months from six months.

 

Now, the company has now proposed eliminating sabbaticals entirely from the contract. Frankly, for many people it’s the only thing that has kept them in the company.

 

The Guild has proposed increasing the rate of pay during sabbaticals to 75% from the current 50%, and to 100% from 75% for a one-time three-month sabbatical.

 

Notice and Severance

 

The company proposals regarding notice and severance are drastic and especially threatening now when we expect large staff cuts momentarily. The next On Time, which will come soon, will explain those proposed cuts.

 

Join the Guild!

 

Time Inc. has changed from a paternalistic company, where the employees were regarded as the most valuable asset, to one that views the employees simply as a cost and their benefits purely as a liability.

 

The best way to show where you stand on management’s proposals is to join the Guild. Membership is confidential, but Time Inc. knows when it goes up and the company pays a lot of attention to membership numbers. Now is the time to join, to take your stand, and let management know that you really do oppose their proposals to gut our contract.

 

Contact Unit Membership Chair Alex Blanco at 212-522-4187, or Local Representative Bob Townsend at 212-730-1532, to find out how to join.

 

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1/09/07