Bay Area News Group

Guild members and staff met for a third time with DFM management today to discuss the company’s proposal to merge the BANG and Mercury News contracts. We opted to suspend these talks and return to bargaining each contract separately. Once again, the Company had no pay proposal for workers who would be covered by the merged contract, and the Company also continued to propose that advertising employees would lose union protection.

Your Guild bargaining committee members initiated negotiations with management Wednesday. Committee members pushed your one priority: raises for all. We proposed a cost-of-living increase of 2.3% plus an additional 2% – across the board – and an IRS mileage reimbursement rate for a one-year term.

BANG Guild members voted today to ratify an agreement with management that extends our contract through September 30, 2015.

Your Guild bargaining committee has reached a tentative agreement with BANG East Bay management on a contract extension through Sept. 30, 2015.

By George Kelly Unit Chair Guild negotiators met with management representatives Thursday in Pleasanton to present a new proposal in light of recent strategic developments involving Digital First Media. The Guild proposed “an extension, plus,” meaning an extension of the current contract on a shortened timeline ending June 30, 2015 …

Location and timing is everything for local journalism as it is for real estate. The San Mateo Times adhered to that principle for decades. And it proved quite profitable.

The Guild has launched an effort to find or build community-based enterprises to free news organizations from the grip of the Digital First Media hedge fund.

An ad posted by the San Francisco-based Guild local reads: “Employees of your community’s newspaper want a new attitude respecting quality jobs & quality journalism on the part of ownership.”

The Guild has proposed a 3 percent wage increase in each of the next three years, a fifth week of vacation after 15 years of service, and resumption of an employee 401k match, as well as other improvements that would begin to restore wages and benefits we have lost in recent contracts. The company continues to reject any economic increases, based on lagging ad revenue.

Your Guild bargaining unit offered a new approach Thursday on some of the core issues in our negotiations for a new labor agreement with the Bay Area News Group.