BARGAINING BULLETIN

Three-year tentative agreement at Bay City News

Raises in second and third years, and a 401(k) match

05 Mar 2010

Media Workers Guild

Bargainers for the Guild reached tentative agreement Thursday night for a new three-year contract with Bay City News Service in San Francisco.

If approved by the members, the agreement will extend nearly all current provisions of the Bay City contract with no concessions. Pay would not increase in 2010, but employees would get raises of 2 percent in 2011 and 3 percent in 2012. At the same time, the contractual pay minimums for all experience levels will increase 3.25 percent  in each of the three years.

The employer also agreed to make a modest matching contribution to the Bay City News 401(k) plan -- 10% of an employee's contribution up to $100 a month -- and to add bereavement leave for domestic partners. The Guild agreed to add a provision to the contract making Bay City exempt from a San Francisco health care ordinance. The unit members already receive health coverage at no expense, a provision that remains unchanged in the new agreement.

Talks focused mainly on the economic terms. Employer representatives argued that a pay freeze was needed this year to cope with the economic recession, but agreed to grant across-the-board pay raises in subsequent years while leaving all other contract provisions intact.

Bay City members have suffered no job reductions and received annual raises of 4.25 percent under the last contract, which expires March 31. Many other employers in the news industry, including some of Bay City’s most important TV and newspaper clients, have sought pay cuts, reduced benefits or implemented layoffs to cope with the loss of advertising revenue.

The tentative new contract must be ratified by the unit members before taking effect. A meeting is being scheduled.

Representing the Guild: Unit Chair Jeff Shuttleworth and Local Representative Carl Hall. Representing the Bay City management: Wayne Futak, general manager, and employer representative James Beard.