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The Baltimore Sun Union OKs Contract

Posted on: Wednesday, 25 June 2003, 06:00 CDT

Union members at The Sun voted to accept the newspaper's latest four-year contract offer by a 3-to-1 margin, although many said they accepted the terms because they didn't think they had much choice.

Members of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild voted 319-102 in favor of the offer Tuesday night, less than an hour before the previous contract expired. Union members said tough economic times forced them to consider the difficulty of mounting an effective strike.

"I think people sort of realized that if we fought on in any way, it was going to be a very, very difficult fight with no promise of any form of victory at the end," said Michael Hill, a Sun reporter and member of the guild's bargaining committee.

The contract covers reporters, graphic artists, photographers, some advertising sales employees and janitors who work at the Sun, which has 1,300 employees.

The newspaper published its first Wednesday edition more than three hours early in anticipation of a walkout, and the paper carried bylines for many photographers and reporters, which had been withheld for nine days by staffers.

Hard feelings were evident shortly after the vote. Some members threw copies of the contract to the ground outside the entrance to the newspaper building as they left the proceedings.

"I think that the Sun is going to be hurt by this entire thing," said graphic designer Jay Selway, who voted against the contract. "I think the workers are going to be hurt."

But Charles Fancher, a Sun spokesman who took part in the negotiations, called the vote a "victory for the entire newspaper." He said the contract was the right one for an increasingly complex media marketplace.

The agreement calls for a one-year wage freeze, a new merit-pay plan and the flexibility to transfer workers to new jobs.

Fancher said employees would get a $24 weekly raise in the second year. In the third year, they would get a $10 raise, with $14 a week going into a merit-pay pool. Employees would get a $10 raise in the fourth year, with $15 going into the merit pay pool.

Fancher said a top-scale reporter at the paper earned $1,093 a week under the old pact.

The newspaper also extended the notification period for transfers from one week to 30 days. A signing bonus, if the offer is signed by July 10, was increased from $1,000 to $1,500.

"The guild member employees of The Baltimore Sun accept this contract under bitter protest and condemn Tribune Co. for its demeaning and destructive conduct for negotiating in bad faith," the union said in a statement.

Chicago-based Tribune Co. acquired The Sun three years ago. The newspaper is the 29th largest daily U.S. newspaper, according to Editor & Publisher. It has a daily circulation of 306,799 and a Sunday circulation of 466,916.

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On the Net:

The (Baltimore) Sun: http://www.sunspot.net

Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild: http://www.wbng.org

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