Membership meeting Feb. 12

Human rights issues will be the focal point of the Guild’s first membership meeting of 2003 at 12:30 and 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 12, in the first-floor meeting room of 60 Boulevard of the Allies. Refreshments will be served.

The local’s human rights committee has addressed several workplace issues in a letter to John Robinson Block, co-publisher and editor-in-chief of the Post-Gazette. The committee is urging action on these issues: domestic partner benefits, accessibility for people with disabilities, diversity in editorial hiring and the inclusion of a woman on the PG’s editorial board.

Annie O’Neill, chair of the human rights committee, will be on hand to talk about the letter and its genesis.

Also on tap for the meeting will be an explanation of an adjustment in wages from an increase in health care costs and the election of delegates to the TNG Sector Conference and CWA convention in August.

Guild negotiates union leave policy for Monessen unit

It took a grievance, a successful arbitration and an unfair labor practice charge, but two years of wrangling finally paid off recently when the Guild was able to negotiate a provision that permits leaves for union business at The Valley Independent in Monessen.

The Guild contract in Monessen already includes a clause for leaves of absence, but the company in 2001 refused to permit a leave so a member could attend TNG’s new officers seminar. The company told the member the newspaper couldn’t spare her for the leave, but she was free to take vacation if she really wanted to go.

Our member went to the seminar. We filed a grievance over the denial of leave and won the case at arbitration.

But the Scaife-owned newspaper refused to permit any additional leaves and docked the pay of our members who attended the arbitration. The Guild filed a ULP with the National Labor Relations Board and used it as leverage to negotiate the leave policy.

Big Brother’s watching

One of our members resigned under fire last month for repeatedly sending personal e­mails on the PG’s system after twice being disciplined for the activity.

The employee who left the company was suspended for five days in late 2001 for sending a lengthy obscene e-mail to more than a dozen co-workers. She was warned in writing not to send personal e-mails again or that discipline could follow.

And follow it did. A few months later, the employee sent more personal messages and was suspended for six days. This time, the company gave her a sterner warning and said her e-mail use would be monitored and that future violations could result in discipline to include termination.

Then, the employee did it again a few weeks ago. And it wasn’t just a harmless message — the e-mail she sent was a crude joke that began, “Two homosexuals ...”

The Guild filed grievances in the two previous cases and didn’t have much luck, other than to reduce the suspension time. This time, we were able to persuade the company to allow the employee to resign, rather than be fired outright, so she could receive severance pay and apply for unemployment.

Remember: the e-mail belongs to the company, and management has the right to electronically look over your shoulder. Be careful.

On second thought ... maybe not

It’s been almost seven months since the Guild ratified our new contract, and the company continues to reinterpret its provisions.

The most recent incident in the company’s revisionist history is an attempt to pro-rate longevity and vacation bonuses for part-timers. The longevity bonuses — to recognize service to the company at 10 and 20 years — are a new addition to the contract, but vacation bonuses have been part of the agreement for years.

All of a sudden, the company decided that part-time Guild members were entitled only to a percentage of the bonuses, based on their status as it relates to full-time service —and this even though the contract provides the bonuses for years of service.