Agreement’s Final Impact on Employees

The final outcome of the cost-savings agreement negotiated with News management has resulted in the overwhelming number of employees faced with layoffs accepting buyouts or receiving enhanced severance pay based on their length of service at The News.

The Guild contract provides a way for more senior employees to bump down into lower-level Guild positions at The News, provided they are “competent and able to perform the duties” of the job. However, only one employee facing layoff chose to do so.

Following the Guild’s negotiated cost-savings agreement with The News:

• One district manager targeted for layoff bumped into an Accounting position in the Accounting/Bookkeeping/Credit department. The ABC employee who was bumped from her post decided to take enhanced severance pay rather than exercise her right to bump another junior employee.
• The remaining five district managers in line for layoffs elected to take enhanced severance rather than exercise their rights to bump other employees. They joined 16 other district managers who elected to accept the company’s buyout offer early in the negotiation process when faced with the prospect of being laid off.
• Buyouts were made available to clerks in the Inside Circulation Department out of concern that they might be bumped from their jobs. This resulted in four clerks in pay group C, and one clerk in pay group B accepting the separation incentives.
• One full-time Classified Advertising employee targeted for layoff received enhanced severance.

Since Publisher Stan Lipsey first announced his plans to lay off News employees, nearly 50 full-time Guild positions have been eliminated. Those who agreed to leave or were forced to leave received higher compensation than the Guild contract required as a result of bargaining.

Every employee who accepted the buyout was off the News’ payroll as of April 1.

All Guild members who received enhanced severance were off the payroll by last week but will continue to receive fully covered health coverage through the end of the month.