These are some of the issues we are looking into and keeping an eye on:
Expressline
The Guild is looking into why some Guild members working on the Expressline aren’t being paid for the work they’re doing at a higher level than their classification.
Pay for a higher classification of work
The Guild is looking into an instance where a member has been performing higher classification work but not being paid for it.
Manager doing Guild work in South Portland
The Guild is looking into an incident where a manager fed inserts for over two hours.
Job change from full time to part time
The Guild is looking into the change of a job from full time to part time when a position became vacant.
UPDATE: The Guild has put in an information request on this matter and is awaiting a response.
Sick time bank
The Guild is looking into a sick time issue where a manager has told an employee he was out of sick time. The member does not believe that to be the case.
UPDATE: The employee did have 7.5 hours left in his bank. The company paid those out for the time. The grievance committee has moved to dismiss.
Termination on probation
The Guild is looking into the termination on an employee while on probation.
UPDATE: The Guild is now looking into two terminations in this matter. The company has so far refused to answer our information requests on both matters and refused to recognize a grievance on one incident. The company believes it has the right to terminate anyone for any reason under Article I, Section 7 during the probationary period. The Guild believes it has the right to police the contract, members have the right to due process, and that there are reasons employees on probation can’t be fired, including those in Article XVII, Section 14 of the contract.
VoicePort
The Guild is reviewing the use of a new automated answering service for circulation.
UPDATE: The Guild has had discussions with the company on this matter and determined that VoicePort will have a use similar to ClassifiedPlus. There will be no negative impact to the current staff. As well, VoicePort will only be utilized during hours that haven’t been normally and typically staffed. VoicePort allows customers to automatically do starts, stops and other circulation customer service functions automatically by telephone. The grievance committee has voted to dismiss this incident.
Worker’s compensation claims
The Guild is looking at recent worker’s comp claims and the utilization of sick time and payout.
UPDATE: The company has agreed that sick time and worker’s comp payments should not be utilized at the same time. The company has agreed to credit two members’ sick banks in this regard. One member was also made whole for sick time that would have been available in the sick bank hadn’t been depleted. The grievance committee has voted to dismiss.
Circulation managers doing Guild work
The Guild is looking into various circulation managers performing Guild work, including data entry work and district manager work.
UPDATE: The company and Guild met on these issues. The company heard our concerns, agreed the work was within our jurisdiction and said these instances were unique with various mitigating circumstances. The grievance committee has voted to dismiss these incidents.
Seniority scheduling in South Portland
The Guild is looking into why senior employees were overlooked for shifts in South Portland.
ORIGINAL UPDATE: The company has said the manager overlooked an employee in one instance. The company is looking into the second instance. The Guild has asked the employee who was overlooked be paid for the missed time.
CURRENT UPDATE: The Guild is awaiting an answer to our offer.
Dust in South Portland
The Guild is looking into a safety issue in the South Portland facility involving cleaning of the ceiling and the resulting dust that affected employees below. One Guild member was injured as a result of the dust.
ORIGINAL UPDATE: The company has agreed to stop cleaning the area while employees are below. The matter is still being pursued.
CURRENT UPDATE: After bringing the issue of the injured member to the company, the member filled out paperwork for worker’s compensation. And worker’s comp was accepted. The grievance committee voted to dismiss this incident.
Outsourcing of circulation work
The Guild is looking into more instances of Guild work being outsourced to outside vendors.
ORIGINAL UPDATE: The Guild has discussed this issue with the company, and we are still in discovery. The issue has to do primarily with billing, and the amount of work lost isn’t going to be readily known until we cycle through the accounts.
CURRENT UPDATE: The Guild requested to toll this issue and not use a timeliness argument against the Guild going forward while all the details emerge. The company refused to toll this issue. The grievance committee voted to file a grievance on this matter.
Liability issues
Some circulation employees have been going the extra mile, delivering missed newspapers to customers on their way home from work. A circulation manager has claimed that these employees are not covered by worker’s compensation because they’re not on the clock. The Guild is checking into this issue just in case an accident occurs (dog bite, tripping over a toy on the stairs, ice in winter, etc…) to make sure our members are covered. We’re also looking into why no one is being compensated for this work, which is typically performed by Guild members on the clock.
ORIGINAL UPDATE: The company has agreed that employees are covered by worker’s comp when doing this type of duty and that they should be paid. The company agrees that employees should either be allowed to leave early in order to make the delivery while still on regularly scheduled time or paid overtime. The Guild is awaiting a letter memorializing this agreement.
CURRENT UPDATE: The Guild received a letter memorializing this understanding. We shared a copy with all members in circulation so the understanding is clear. The grievance committee has voted to dismiss this incident.
A final written warning for a member for opening interoffice mail
The company gave a final written warning to a member for opening an interoffice envelope that didn’t have her name on it. The member was doing some mailing and her paycheck got accidentally mixed in with the items that were to be mailed. The member realized what had happened and called down to have the check pulled out of the mail before it went out. The check was pulled out and put in an interoffice envelope with her manager’s name on it. The envelope finally arrived, the manager wasn’t around and the member was about to leave, so she opened the envelope to get her check.
ORIGINAL UPDATE: The employee involved in this incident has since left the company. The Guild is waiting for a letter from the company saying this matter does not set precedent.
CURRENT UPDATE: The company is putting together a policy on interoffice mail handling. The company has sent a letter clarifying that discipline for similar instances will be based on what the company believes is warranted. The Guild will have the right to challenge any discipline or level of discipline it feels is unwarranted.
Correct steps
The Guild is looking to make sure a number of new members were hired at the appropriate step under the language in our contract.
ORIGINAL UPDATE: One member involved is being accelerated through the steps based on a review of experience and skills. The Guild is waiting for a response on the other member
CURRENT UPDATE: The Guild is trying to verify the status of a grievance on this matter. The Guild has asked the company to take another look at the other member based on the facts of the matter and in light of what occurred with the other member.
Job change in accounting
We are looking into the changes, combining of jobs and downgrading of a position with a recent resignation of a Guild member.
ORIGINAL UPDATE: The Guild is researching the origin of the company’s claim that this work is indeed classified correctly.
CURRENT UPDATE: The Guild and company discussed this issue at a recent meeting. It is the Guild’s belief that a position was upgraded as part of a 2004 settlement, and that the work performed by the position is the same as when the settlement occurred.
Outsourcing of insertion work
The company had carriers, who are independent contractors, lay a copy of the product “The Southern Maine Medical & Good Health Journal” on top of the newspapers they delivered instead of inserting the product into the paper in distribution. There’s contract language that guarantees this work to distribution (Article XVI, Section 2). In addition the company reportedly paid 7.5 cents per copy delivered to the independent contractors, which comes out to around $4,000 to have it delivered. Hiring a couple of distribution assistants for the night to feed machines would have cost less than $200.
UPDATE: The Guild is waiting for a reply from the company on this matter.
Use of stringers in news
We brought to the company’s attention the recent use of stringers in a couple special sections. The company agrees it was a misuse of stringers and that it is Guild work.
LAST UPDATE: The company has agreed (per a past agreement with the Guild) that correspondents are not allowed to write centerpiece articles for these special sections. The Guild has a separate issue that has been tolled involving the use of outside contractors writing for the newspaper. Research into this issue is ongoing.
CURRENT UPDATE: The company and Guild admitted there was some confusion over what sections were included in this agreement. The company presented evidence that the practice for special sections of an irregular nature has been to use both staff and correspondence for this work. The Guild accepts this practice and wrote a letter memorializing the understanding. The grievance committee voted to dismiss.
Working out of classification
The Guild is looking at a number of situations in Portland and South Portland where members are being asked to do significant new activities that aren’t in their job descriptions and/or significant activities that our outside of their job descriptions.
UPDATE: This discussion with the company is ongoing.
Relationship between print and online mediums
There have been a number of issues raised in the relationship between print and online mediums. These issues include reporters being asked to write separates for online, sales people being asked to sell into online, and having online write for print. The contract calls for a New Media committee of company and Guild representatives, so we’re going to address these issues in that forum, hopefully successfully.
LAST UPDATE: With management changes in both online and news, this issue has been pushed to the side. When all parties are up and running with this issue, we’ll try to meet again.
Managers doing Guild work
We have filed a grievance relating to a manager in South Portland performing plant maintenance person work.
UPDATE: This issue has now had three grievance meetings and it will either be resolved as a part of on-going negotiations regarding job classifications and training at the South Portland plant or go to the grievance committee for arbitration. Timelines were waived on this issue.
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