SI settlement gives big win to Guild-covered employees

Unit Chair John Shostrom

As reported on Aug. 2 and Aug. 6, the Guild and Time Inc. have settled a dispute over management’s improper cut in hours and pay for Copy Editors and Photographers at Sports Illustrated. Arbitrator Elliott D. Shriftman ruled on June 12 that the company violated the collective bargaining agreement when it unilaterally converted all Guild-covered employees in those two job titles into part-timers.

A successful resolution

But, instead of determining a remedy for the violation, Shriftman directed the two sides to work one out. And we have. As of Aug. 1, all seven Copy Editors covered by the arbitration were restored to full-time status, and all 10 Photographers, while not returning to full time in order to guarantee no layoffs in that department, had their guaranteed hours increased. There were no layoffs of Copy Editors either. (Layoffs in both departments had been threatened by management throughout the 19 months since the original pay cut and workload reduction.)

The difficulties of challenging Time Inc.

As soon as the cuts were announced, in December 2008, as part of massive layoffs at the company, the Guild grieved the reduction to part-time status in both departments. Management denied the grievance, as it usually does in layoff situations. And so, the Guild was faced with its perennial problem: to arbitrate their layoffs, employees must refuse to sign a release waiving claims against the company. But if they don't sign, they don’t get their severance pay. In essence, it's your money or your rights.

Trying to survive on part-time pay is very difficult for any of us; the releases are inherently coercive. In the two groups, 16 of the 17 affected employees signed the releases in order to get their severance pay. The Guild knew from a 2003 arbitration decision regarding Fortune magazine writers that if there wasn't a "live body" who refused to sign, the arbitration would probably be dismissed: In the 2003 arbitrator's words, the case was "dismissed as moot. There is no live controversy to be addressed" because all four writers had signed releases, as had the Guild.

Stepping up to the plate

But the SI case was different. After more than 11 years since the release-for-severance language went into the contract, an employee for the first time refused to sign a severance agreement. Guild Unit Chairperson John Shostrom, an SI Copy Editor, turned down his severance pay and took his forced hours-and-pay reduction to arbitration. During that arbitration, the Guild argued that all 17 affected employees should be granted relief, not just Shostrom.

That is what ended up happening. Throughout the arbitration hearing, the post-hearing lawyers' briefs and, finally, the post-ruling negotiations, Time Inc. management argued  consistently that the releases made the cases of the other 16 different from Shostrom's (his return to full-time work was assured by the arbitrator's ruling). But in the end, the Guild was able to get substantial work and pay back for everyone.

The future impact

While the precise remedy in this case doesn't set a precedent, all Guild-covered employees benefit from the Shriftman ruling – management can never again unilaterally turn a department of full-timers into part-timers. If it contemplates that action, it must go to the Guild and the potentially affected employees of the department question first.

In fact, this has been done before, most recently a few years ago at People's Copy Department. The Guild and the employees in the department were brought in at the start of the reduction-in-force process, and it was a Guild-employee plan, not a management plan, that was adopted as the best solution. No one was laid off, and in that case, all full-timers stayed full time.

The moral for management: follow the contract and consult with the Guild, and things can be worked out; violate the contract and ignore the Guild, and a neutral party will rule against you.

The moral for Guild-covered employees: your union will stand up for you, but you've also got to stand up for yourself, and you can win.