St. Louis Newspaper Guild

Earlier this month, in our case involving the yellow contract retirees, Lee – after receiving several extensions – finally replied to our motion.  They did this several ways.  First, they counter-sued and seem to want to get a decision under ERISA – the federal law regarding pension plans.  Now, our suit wasn’t filed to have anything decided under ERISA; it was filed to compel arbitration.  The legal differences and reasoning behind it all gets rather complicated and I don’t care to lay out points of strategy on such a public forum, so I will let it go at that.

With their filing, Lee has gone off in a slightly different direction.  In their counter-suit, they ask the court to declare (under the ‘Declaratory Judgement Act”), that they have the right to do what they did under ERISA.  Lee doesn’t stop there though and their suit doesn’t just name the Guild – it names the retirees as defendants as well!  Lee has filed what they are characterizing as a  class-action suit and want to get the court to not only issue a declaratory judgement stating that they have the right to do what they did under ERISA; they also want the court to declare that our retirees can’t sue them in a class-action suit anytime in the future (Did somebody hear something?  Are people getting nervous?).

Most legal scholars would agree that a class-action suit involves a bunch of wronged parties suing a lone, guilty party.  It seems to me – an admitted layman – that it’s a bit of a stretch to think that one party suing a bunch of different parties is the same thing.  But there you have it.  Lee – the company that paid more for a single paper than their entire media empire is now worth – has gone backwards through the looking glass again (however, a quick look online at their new attorneys and one learns that their firm does have a department that handles such things, so who can say).

But – curiouser and curiouser – that’s not the end of it.  To make matters worse, Lee named three seemingly random retirees as “class representatives” and had them served with subpoenas.  One presumes that Lee somehow expects these three retirees, who are living on fixed incomes and who recently have had to purchase health care coverage, to be able to hire attorneys to represent them in federal court.

Then today, Lee struck again.  Going for another declaratory judgement, the corporation filed another counter-suit.  This time they filed against the Guild and our blue contract retirees and they named three more retirees as class representatives for that group as well.  What a world.

As I stated earlier, it is not my intention to discuss pending legal maneuvers, so I will just say that the Guild is busy preparing its response.

In September of 2010 we won the right in federal court to proceed to arbitration on behalf of our blue contract retirees about whether or not the company had the right to force them to pay for their retiree medical coverage after being promised – in writing – that their coverage would be free.

Immediately following that victory Lee appealed and, on April 11, oral arguments were heard before the eight circuit court of appeals.  Recently the appeals court handed down their decision and it is a no-decision of sorts.

After all kinds of filings and precedent were introduced, the appeals court ruled that, before an arbitration hearing can be held, the matter of vesting should be decided for once and for all.  Then they sent the case back to our original judge to have him make that determination.  What this means is that we now have a couple more months to wait while the judge mulls over the arguments.

If you’re thinking that the judge had ruled on this back in September, you’re partially right.  Back then the judge ruled that we had a ‘reasonable expectation’ of vesting but left the ultimate decision about that to the arbitrator.  What the appeals court is now saying is that issue must being settled first before it can move on.  So once more we wait and it appears that – one way or another – the matter may be decided right here.  Because if the judge rules against vesting, we’re not going to be able to get in front of an arbitrator and, if a federal judge rules that our retired member’s rights are vested, what arbitrator in his right mind is going to rule otherwise?

We’ll keep you posted.

The AFL-CIO Dislocated Workers Program will be held in the Guild office building, 1015 Locust Street, in the 9th floor conference room – suite 916.  Our building is on the corner of 11th and Locust and parking is available in the building.

All individuals who were laid off in June – as well as those who were let go in April – are invited to attend this event.  Like we have done in the past, the Guild invites all laid off employees – union and nonunion alike – to participate in this.  The program will run from 9:00 to 4:00 and cover a variety of subjects with which  one is confronted after losing one’s job.

Representatives will be on hand from many different bureaus and agencies – on both sides of the river - with a wealth of information to assist you as you make your way forward through this difficult time.  Many subjects will be addressed:  subjects like unemployment insurance (US Dept of Labor will be here), reducing your bills (budget counselors) tax issues (the IRS will be on hand) and dealing with stress, to name a few.  Members will learn about available resources – like available tuition dollars for those thinking about returning to school – and how to access them as quickly as possible.  There will be handouts, Q and A and, hopefully, everyone will leave a bit more able to deal with their new reality.

Lunch will be provided.

In 2010, after Truthout signed their first contact with the Guild, money was extremely tight (read about Truthout’s interesting history and their struggle to unionize in this website’s archives).  But unlike most employers, Truthout opened their books and let the Guild’s bargaining team look over their financial situation.  After agreeing that raises were not something that could be granted right then, a contract was bargained that called for raises when certain revenue levels were reached.  And, because Truthout’s new management team had been so candid and forthright in their negotiations, the employees were totally on board with putting their shoulders to the wheel and helping their enlightened employer turn things around.

Recently, a notice was sent to all of Truthout’s employees, notifying them that target revenues had been hit and that a 4% raise would now take effect.

Nice going, Truthout!  Way to live your values!

That’s right, we will soon relaunch our local’s website and have a new look once again.

As regualr readers (if we still have any) know, our local went from a old Wordpress template where stories just fell further down the page to a Dreamweaver site that had more “stickiness” but one that required quite a bit more expertise.  Then, after our webmaster moved to California, it got a bit harder to stay on top of things.  Add to that the fact that our local – which had been paying for website assistance – has been in a cost-cutting mode for the past year and may be able to understand why our site has gotten so stale.

But no more!  In the next few days you will see a new and improved site; one that will be easier to navigate and, hopefully, easier to manage.  In the meantime, as always, anyone with any questions or concerns is encouraged to call the office at 314-241-7046.  Thanks.

At the nomination meeting held on Tuesday, December 28, Mary Casey, Shannon Duffy and Jeff Gordon were nominated to attend the TNG-CWA Sector Conference, held February 3-6 in Orlando, Florida.  There were no other nominations and, since the size of our local is accorded three delegates, there is no need to hold an election as all three nominees are declared delegates.

It is an election year for TNG, so this year the conventions are split.  We will accept nominations for up to (3) delegates to attend TNG’s 2011 Sector Conference.  If more than three TNG delegates are nominated, there will be an immediate mail ballot election.  The TNG Sector Conference is February 3-6, 2011 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida and the CWA Conference will be held July 11-13, 2011, in Las Vegas, NV.

Delegates to the sector conference, should also be willing to attend the CWA Convention, as only TNG Sector Conference delegates may attend the CWA Convention.  CWA has not yet notified us on the number of convention delegates will be awarded, it could be as few as two.

Any member in good standing is eligible to be nominated for these conferences.  The member nominated must accept nomination no later than 12 Noon the day following nomination.

Travel Expenses and Fees will be paid by the local.  Members will not have any lost time paid by the local.

DATE OF NOMINATION MEETING: December 28, 2010

TIME:         12 p.m. and 6 p.m.

PLACE:      Guild Office

1015 Locust, Suite 735

Members who cannot make it to the Guild office may call and nominate someone 314-241-7046.

We’ve created some new areas on the website to keep members updated. Because the many articles concerning Post-Dispatch retiree medical issues kept knocking other news out of the feed, we’ve removed those from our  ‘Guild’s Recent News’ feed and created a dedicated area for retirees.  The site can be accessed by a link at the top of our site on the right hand side (directly under the TNG logo) or right next to our recent news feed.  Once in the dedicated area, articles are separated by the the particular contact under which the member retired.  We hope you find this new layout informative and easy to navigate.

Also, with some our our members laid off and facing the end of their unemployment insurance, we want to alert them about any and all employment opportunities.  We have therefore installed a new link – called “industry jobs” – and ask that you please let your former brothers and sisters know about this when you next talk to them.

Finally, we are currently accepting nominations for the Terry Hughes Award and have set a date and location for our Annual Dinner (January 28 at Maggie O’s).  See you there!

Our jobs with Justice unit successfully negotiated a successor agreement which calls for an increase in wages,  improved phone policy (in which  organizers will utilize smart phones) and establishes health savings accounts to which the employer will contribute (our members have already decided that it will be put to immediate use by purchasing a dental plan).

The agreement runs for three years with annual re-openers for wages and health care.  The Guild’s bargaining team consisted of Jobs with Justice Unit Chair Aaron Burnett, organizer Kelly Anthony and Guild Business Representative Shannon Duffy.

Some people are concerned that paying full premiums or notifying Lee they’re getting insurance with another provider could be interpreted as some kind of waiver or voluntary opt out and nullify any chance for future recompense when this issue gets resolved.

Our legal counsel doesn’t think so.  It’s unlikely that a court would find that someone forced to pay or shop for cheaper coverage would have disqualified him/herself from any remedy through the grievance process or through any other means.  Besides, our grievance will have language that provides for that.

Still, perhaps you’re the overly cautious type and want to be absolutely certain that paying the full amount or going with another provider won’t be used against you in the future.  In that case, we suggest your letter to Lee to contain the following:

a)  for those who – because of preexisting conditions or other reasons – stay with Lee:

I submit this payment under protest, and solely to ensure that there is no immediate harm to me or to my family as a result of a gap in coverage.

This payment is submitted without prejudice to my position and the position of the St. Louis Newspaper Guild, that the actions of the Employer are in clear violation of its continued statutory and contractual obligations to me and to the Guild to provide fully paid coverage.

b) and for those who will be going elsewhere for their medical coverage:

I hereby decline continued retiree health care coverage through the Post Dispatch/Lee Enterprise, at my full premium payment.  This is without prejudice to my position, and the position of the St. Louis Newspaper Guild, that the actions of the Employer are in clear violation of its continued statutory and contractual obligations to me and to the Guild to provide fully paid coverage.