Higher minimum starting pay and minimum annual raises were among the improved contract terms bargained in recently approved deals for Guild-represented workers at Gallagher Printing and Hodgins Printing, two of the print shops whose employees are represented by the Buffalo Newspaper Guild.
The deals were ratified late in 2022 following negotiations by former President Sandy Tan and Guild administrative officer Kim Leiser.
Here are some other improvements included in both contracts:
- Improved/updated vacation terms: members are eligible for three weeks of vacation after five years and four weeks of vacation after 10 years
- Bereavement leave extended for all step relations, not just blood relatives
- Successorship and evergreen clauses were added, which ensure that if the contract expires and a new one has not yet been signed, the terms of the expired contract still cover all Guild members, and, if the business is sold, the new owner/employer is bound by the same Guild contract.
Additionally, for the first time, Guild members at both Gallagher and Hodgins are eligible for severance pay if they are laid off by the company after they have worked at the company at least a year. Severance pay is two weeks for Gallagher and one week for Hodgins.
Other terms of the Guild contact remain largely unchanged.
These were the first contracts for Gallagher and Hodgins negotiated by the Guild since the Typographical Unit merged with the Guild in October 2019. The Gallagher deal runs through December 2024, while the agreement for Hodgins runs through Oct. 31, 2025.
The Guild has union contracts with four outside print shops, aside from The Buffalo News. In addition to Gallagher and Hodgins, the Guild is responsible for negotiating contracts for Tonawanda Printing, which prints the Niagara Gazette, and Delft Printing. Delft has the last contract that remains to be updated.
Buffalo Newspaper Guild CWA Local 31026 