CHRONICLE UNIT BULLETIN

Dozen more laid off, pension cuts detailed

Payroll switching to biweekly cycle

Michelle Devera, Unit Chair

04 Dec 2009

Media Workers Guild

LAYOFFS: This week, San Francisco Chronicle management have begun notifying up to a dozen more Guild and non-Guild employees that they are being laid off. The employees are being offered the same severance terms as in previous rounds of job cuts, including two weeks' pay per year of service and company paid health benefits for up to one year.

Departments affected by the latest layoff notices include the finance, circulation and SFGate. Some of the layoffs have claimed some of our longest-serving and most productive employees who survived the deeper job cuts earlier this year, including at least one long-term shop steward.

The Guild will arrange help for unemployment benefits and other assistance for any member being laid off who requests help. Please contact us at the Guild Office, (415) 421-6833.

Management officials have revealed few details as to why more jobs must be cut after the recent announcements suggesting a turn toward improvement in the company's financial results. It does seem clear, however, that The Chronicle has a long way to go before achieving enough financial stability for anyone to say the era of layoffs is finally over.

More than 50 Guild jobs have been eliminated since the last major layoff round in the spring. EDD workshops are being planned.

PENSION: All active and former Guild-covered San Francisco Chronicle employees due but not yet collecting a pension are being sent a letter from the Guild Retirement Plan outlining some major changes in pension benefits, including a freeze, effective January 1, on future benefit accruals.

Changes in our pension were made necessary under a federal law -- the Pension Protection Act of 2006 -- and were triggered by the pension plan falling into "critical status.” The need for a pension workout was raised during March 2009 negotiations with the Hearst Corp. The pension issues were the result of a steep decline in active membership (more than 1,000 at the time Hearst bought the Chronicle, and now just 271), and declines in financial markets.

Investment values are on the way back up now, but the burden of supporting over 1,000 retirees who are receiving checks, and more than 900 people who are terminated and waiting for their pensions to begin, keep the plan in a critically underfunded state.

There is one positive development: The Guild's trustees on the pension plan argued against elimination of the early retirement benefit, which allows pensions to begin as early as age 55.  This benefit was on the chopping block along with the list of other cutbacks.

We preserved early retirement, but in a reduced form that takes into account what is called an actuarial reduction based on age.  The full amount of pension is still available at age 65, but there is a percentage reduction for each year earlier that one chooses to have pension benefits start.

There will likely be many question about these changes in the pension. We urge participants to put questions in writing and mail or email them to the Guild.

Send questions to Doug Cuthbertson. You can drop them off or mail them to us at the Guild office, 433 Natoma St., Third Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103

WEEKLY TO BI-WEEKLY PAY PERIOD SWITCH: Please remember that the company is switching from a weekly pay period to a bi-weekly pay period. Our last weekly pay period ends Dec. 27. The next pay day will be Jan. 11. You could be adversely affected if you have any automatic electronic payments scheduled or have bill due dates that depend upon a weekly paycheck deposit. If anyone has hardship getting through the transition from the weekly to bi-weekly system, management invites you to contact the payroll department's Melvin Genishi, Ext. 7582. And if an acceptable plan isn't found that way, the Bay Media Federal Credit Union may be able to help with a short-term loan you can pay back through payroll deduction. Contact the Bay Media Federal Credit Union at (415) 986-0484 for details about services they offer.

VACATIONS: If you have any unused vacation that you cannot take before year's end, please contact your supervisor immediately to schedule time to do so. If you have any issues, please contact your shop steward or Unit Chair Michelle Devera, deveramichelle@gmail.com. Your department should have posted the vacation schedule for 2010 by now.

As always, please check our Web site for updates.


In solidarity,

Michelle Devera, Unit chair

California Media Workers Guild
433 Natoma St., San Francisco
(415) 421-6833, mediaworkers.org
CMWG/TNG-CWA 39521*AFL-CIO