The Guild has launched an effort to partner with investors in the community on an Employee Stock Ownership Plan to buy the newspapers.

After having an op-ed rejected, the Guild purchased an ad in the Maine Sunday Telegram and launched a Web site www.yourhometownpaper.org. In addition, the Guild has been actively seeking out investors in the community.

The effort has been successful. Several different groups came forward from the community, and the Guild is actively working with them.

The Guild is investigating an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the company for denial of Weingarten Rights.

Weingarten Rights deal with an employee’s right to have a union representative present in meetings. The standard for when a union representative is legally allowed to sit in on a meeting is when the employee reasonably believes the discussion could in any way lead to being disciplined or terminated, or affect personal working conditions.

The Guild and company have had a long-standing understanding that coaching and Performance Improvement Plans are separate and distinct from the discipline process. However, recently the company has cited coaching and PIPs when meting out discipline yet still denied Weingarten Rights even though the process is now being used for discipline.

The company and Guild have had several discussions on this matter. The company has said it wants the long-standing understanding to remain. The Guild is waiting for written documentation of the understanding.

Until the Guild has a written understanding, please be aware that coaching and PIPs could directly lead to discipline and the Guild advises to request union representation in any meeting involving those issues. If representation is denied, which the company has said it will do, please continue with the meeting and report the incident to the Guild office.

The following Guild full-time occupied positions were eliminated in March: one major accounts salesperson, two classified advisors, one food service coordinator, two news clerks and two copy editors. In addition, the company identified two vacant positions, Clerk I tearsheets and distribution specialist, as positions that were eliminated. As well, the part-time copy editor pool was reduced significantly and two part-time copy editors took layoffs.

One full-time photographer has been laid off from the Waterville unit at the Morning Sentinel as well. The Guild will be engaging in discussions about the reassignment of work.

The Guild continues to meet with the company and investigate the reassigned work, the universal copy desk and other issues.

Several other issues have arisen as well:

The company failed to give the requisite 30-day notice of layoffs. The company did pay out impacted members 30 days of notice pay in addition to severance due. The company has also recognized the obligation for advance notice and talks are continuing on a resolution to this issue. The Guild feels it is important to have discussions in advance of layoffs so issues can be raised before layoffs are affected.

 The company unilaterally changed services in the cafeteria. The company has recognized it has an obligation to negotiate over the impact of the change. The sides have agreed that Green Mountain coffee will return, there will be an always-on hot water source in the cafeteria and there will be plastic utensils available.

The company also created a new Online Content Producer in news and two sales positions in MaineToday during layoffs. The company originally established the new sales positions under the New Business Venture letter. The company didn’t believe NewspaperNext initiatives were part of the MaineToday side letter. After discussions the company and Guild have agreed that these positions and N2 initiative positions are covered by the MaineToday.com side letter. The Guild is also reviewing the job duties of the Online Content Producer in conjunction with the layoff of copy editors.

In addition, the Guild is also investigating the formula used to determine severance payments to part-timers. The company is using only the last six-month period to determine what percentage of each qualifying period is paid out.

Following the layoff of Glen Reed, the Guild has vacancies for the position of Portland unit chair. The position of Portland’s second unit chair was previously vacant. If you are interested or know someone who would be good in either position, contact Kathy Munroe or C.J. Betit.

Contact: 207-772-1202

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

NEWSPAPER GUILD RETAINS ADVISOR

AND ANNOUNCES EXPLORATION OF BID FOR BLETHEN NEWSPAPERS

The Portland Newspaper Guild announced today that it has launched an exploratory effort to make a bid for local employee ownership of the Blethen Maine Newspapers and Web sites following the Seattle Times Co. announcement last month that it was offering all its Maine properties for sale.

An ad will run in this week's Maine Sunday Telegram touting employee and local ownership and a Web site http://www.yourhometownpaper.org/ has been launched to help in this effort.

The Newspaper Guild welcomes any ownership alternative for the Blethen Maine Newspapers that continues to recognize the importance of union representation of its workforce.  The Guild also believes that an employee-ownership model backed by community-minded investors would likely serve as the best structure for preserving local control and journalistic integrity.

The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, Kennebec Journal of Augusta, Morning Sentinel of Waterville and MaineToday.com, which combined have over 600 employees are being sold by the Seattle Times Co.

The Guild has retained the consulting firm Ownership Associates, Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to advise the employees in this deal. The President of Ownership Associates, Christopher Mackin, has 30 years of professional experience in the area of employee ownership.

Press conferences will be held Monday and Tuesday with Mackin and other participants in the bid. Monday's conference will be held at 3 p.m. outside of Portland City Hall on the Congress Street side. Tuesday's conference will be held at 10 a.m. in the Welcome Center at the State House in Augusta.

For more information, contact C.J. Betit at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 207-772-1202.

Contact: 207-772-1202

A BLETHEN, MAINE LABOR LEADERS

STAND WITH MORNING SENTINEL STAFF

Labor leaders throughout Maine, including Dale Blethen, have signed on to a petition in support of the Portland Newspaper Guild members working in the newsroom at the Morning Sentinel in Waterville.

Dale Blethen, chief steward for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1837, is a cousin of Frank Blethen, patriarch of the Blethen Family.

The contract between the Guild and Blethen Maine Newspapers expired on January 31, 2006, and the last raise for employees was on January 30, 2005.

"Enough is enough," said Maine AFL-CIO President Ed Gorham. "It's time for the long simmering negotiations to be finished and for the management to start acting responsibly."

The company's demands for the right to outsource jobs, changes to reduce paid sick time, the right to transfer employees unilaterally to other Blethen Maine enterprises, and a limited wage proposal are the main points of disagreement.

Signatories to the petition in addition to Gorham and Blethen include Presidents of the Eastern Maine, Central Maine, Western Maine and Southern Maine Labor Councils, the entire Executive Board of Maine State Employees Association-SEIU Local 1989, and leaders of Teamsters Local 340, United Steelworkers Local #4-9, #4-900, #449 and #4-014, United Association Local 716, Maine American Federation of Teachers, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Locals 2327 and 1837.

For more information, contact C.J. Betit at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 207-772-1202.

 Download a copy of the petition

As discussed at the general membership meeting last week, there are many contractual and legal protections during a sale. Attached is a letter sent to the company about one of those, the successor clause, and the related documentation. If you have any questions, please call the Guild office at 772-1202.

  Download Letter

 SuccessoroshipTRO

 Gannett Successorship Arbitrator Award

Applications for the Ed Beardsley Memorial Scholarship are now available. All members who have a son or daughter who will be attending college next year that have not won previously are eligible.

The Ed Beardsley Memorial Scholarship is intended to be an annual, one-time award of $1,000 to an immediate family member of a dues-paying or retired member of the Portland Newspaper Guild, Local 31128 in Portland or Waterville. It is presented in memory of Ed Beardsley, a shop steward in the distribution department, a member of the Local Executive Board, a member of the negotiation committee and an active Guild member for 21 years until his death in November 2001.

1. All applicants for the Ed Beardsley Memorial Scholarship must be an immediate member of a dues paying or retired Guild member’s family.

2. The scholarship award must be used for tuition, books and/or room and board.3. Applications must be printed or type.
4. Applications will be judge by a subcommittee of the Local Executive Board.
5. Applications must be postmarked by the June 11th deadline and submitted to : Scholarship Committee, Portland
Newspaper Guild - Local 31128, P.O. Box 576, Portland, Maine 04112-0576.
6. The winner of the Ed Beardsley Memorial Scholarship will be announced by Jun3 30, 2008.
7. For further information, please contact any Guild officer.

 Download the application

"A lot of members are apprehensive right now," said Tom Bell, Portland Newspaper Guild Vice President. "We are optimistic, though, that a buyer can be found who can help us continue to serve our readers, connect our communities and also help us grow our online operations. The Guild is concerned about the need to maintain quality jobs and a quality product."

The Guild is committed to aggressively representing our members during this process. The Portland Guild contract has a very strong successor clause.  As well, the Guild will be exploring other alternatives, including the possibility of an employee ownership bid.

"There's always going to be some trepidation with change," said C.J. Betit, Guild Administrative Officer. "But we also must be optimistic about the opportunity that lies ahead. We have become accustom to family ownership with ties to the community. This has benefited us in many respects, and we must be vigilant in making sure the next owner shares our vision of the newspapers and Web sites."

The Guild is forming an exploratory committee to research the options surrounding employee ownership. TNG national leadership has put the Local in touch with a firm that specializes in such endeavors. If you have an interest in being on this committee, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it (ext. 6369) or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  (772-1202).

As information becomes available during this process, we will communicate with the membership.

Four of the five members with bumping rights have chosen not to bump and to take the layoff so far. This includes Guild Portland unit chair Glen Reed, whose major accounts salesperson position was eliminated.

Part-time copy editors have until Monday afternoon to get notice to Human Resources of if they are willing to work full-time. At that point based on seniority (defined as hours worked in the copy editor classification) part-timers who are willing to work full-time can bump into full-time positions if they have more seniority.

After the layoff Friday afternoon, the Guild and company did meet to discuss issues related to the layoffs. These discussions primarily included issues such as notice in moving from day to night shifts, the potential of job sharing a full-time copy editor position under Article XI, the new Online Content Producer position and the new MaineToday sales position that have an immediate impact on individuals in relation to the layoffs.

The Guild and company have scheduled meetings for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to discuss other issues related to layoffs and other outstanding issues.