St. Louis Newspaper Guild Accepts Contract That Includes a Pay Cut

[CORRECTION, March 30 at 2:40 p.m. Eastern: Brian Flinchpaugh writes for the Globe-Democrat. The original version of this post had incorrectly stated that he wrote for the Post-Dispatch.]

The St. Louis Newspaper Guild accepted Saturday a 5 1/2-year contract with management at the Post-Dispatch.

The agreement with Lee Enterprises will cut employees' pay by six percent immediately, but there are provisions that would restore some of the cuts down the road if profits increase. The vote was 132-54.

Brian Flinchpaugh of the Globe-Democratwrites:

“People want the Post to succeed and they want Lee to succeed and they want to keep the Post strong,” said Jeff Gordon, president of the St. Louis Newspaper Guild and a sports columnist at the Post. “That’s the hope.”

Gordon said guild members realized if they fought Lee, they could have damaged the Post-Dispatch. One guild strategy if the contract was rejected was to mount a $500,000 public relations campaign against Lee.

The campaign would ask the public to suspend their subscriptions to the Post. More help may come from the national Communications Workers of America.

That could have lead to more layoffs and make an already bad situation worse, he said.

Gordon said guild leaders and some members worried whether they would get anything more if they rejected the contract. Other labor negotiations at newspapers in Minneapolis, Chicago and other major cities are following a similar pattern.

The guild represents reporters, photographers, editors, advertising personnel and other employees

Lee Enterprises Cancels Health Insurance for Retirees, Union Says

Lee Enterprises, owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other newspapers, is canceling company-paid health insurance for scores of retirees, the Newspaper Guild of St. Louis said today.

In a press release, it announced that the Guild would protest outside the Post-Dispatch building on Dec. 15.

The move affects about 100 retired Guild members and dozens more management retirees, the Guild said. Many will lose their health coverage because they can’t afford the premiums, according to the union. Some couples will have to pay nearly $1,200 per month to continue coverage under company plans.

Lee said it was eliminating the coverage for some retirees and increasing the share of the premium cost for other retired employees. Its statement was part of its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week.

"The changes are expected to reduce annual net periodic postretirement medical cost beginning in 2010 and will reduce the benefit obligation liability by up to $30 million," Lee said in the filing. Other than that, there has been no comment from Lee.

The union said it expects Lee to cancel coverage for dozens of other retirees once the current union contract expires.

“Lee is trying to increase its profits on the backs of the sick and elderly. The greed and venality of this profitable corporation know no bounds,” said Shannon Duffy, business administrator for the union, which represents news and advertising employees at the paper.

Duffy compared the action to the executive pay of Lee's top management. Chief executive officer Mary Junck received compensation worth $2.5 million in the 2008 fiscal year, according to the company proxy. Chief financial officer Carl Schmidt was paid $1.2 million.

“For executives to enrich themselves while cutting health care for the elderly is morally repugnant,” said Duffy. “Lee is reneging on a promise made to men and women who dedicated their working lives to the Post-Dispatch. “That promise was explicit in union contracts.”

Lee Enterprises Wants 23-percent Wage Cut From St. Louis Post-Dispatch Guild Members

Lee Enterprises is asking members of the The Newspaper Guild of St. Louis to accept a 23 percent wage cut.

Owners of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is proposing pay cuts of 15 percent in the first year, and 5 percent each in the second and third years of the contract, according to the guild’s website.

Therre isn't much comment from management. “We have always refrained from making any comment or discussing the substance of the negotiations,” said Dan Hayes, a spokesman for Lee, told the St. Louis Business Journal.

Guild members already voted 100-27 to agree to a second week of furloughs but only if Lee agreed to no layoffs during contract negotiations, the guild said on its site.

Lee also proposed the following contract changes, according to the guild's website:

• Ability to lay off employees for any reason

• The right to suspend employees for up to three days without “just cause”

• Eliminating paid maternity leave

• Cutting unpaid maternity leave in half, to 12 weeks maximum

• Eliminating retiree medical

• Eliminating retiree life insurance

• Eliminating 401(k) match

• Freezing Pulitzer Pension Plan

• Increasing employee share of medical premiums to 30 percent from 25 percent

• Eliminating the Pulitzer PPO medical plan

• Eliminating a set guaranteed base for commission sales reps

• Requiring outside sales reps to work unlimited unpaid overtime

• Eliminating company vehicles for photographers

• Eliminating shares of reprints for photographers

• The right to fire employees on sick leave after three months of absence. The contract now allows 18 months.

The Guild proposed longer funeral leave for the death of spouses and children, a larger cell-phone reimbursement, a mileage increase, enhanced severance packages after layoffs, additional holidays, a 401(k) match of up to 5 percent and overtime eligibility for columnists and outside ad reps.