COLLECTIVE BARGAINING PROGRAM

Introduction

TNG/CWA Bargaining Program

U.S. Model Contracts

Canadian Model Contracts

Requirements

Introduction

Overview

Using the Bargaining Program to Develop Proposals

Required Proposals

TNG Support of Local Bargaining Efforts

Overview

The desire to improve wages and working conditions is what motivates most people to organize unions, and achieving a collective bargaining agreement is one of the most significant things members of The Newspaper Guild-CWA can accomplish. However, a well-rounded contract is more than a catalogue of wages and benefits. It is a collection of the rights and freedoms, standards and principles, that expresses the philosophy of the union and embodies the ideals of a progressive labor movement.

In fact, the constitution of The Newspaper Guild declares that, in addition to advancing the economic interests and improving the working conditions of its members, the purpose of the union is to guarantee, as far as it is able, equal employment and advancement opportunity, to ensure honesty in our business practices and to raise the standards and ethics of our industries. The constitutional goals of the Guild also include building the labor movement: promoting industrial unionism within the jurisdiction of the Guild, and fostering friendly cooperation among all workers.

It's a heavy charge that is laid before a bargaining committee, but locals are not alone in determining how to address these lofty constitutional objectives in the context of collective bargaining. Since its earliest days, The Newspaper Guild has maintained a collection of tools to help locals set bargaining goals, create proposals and draft contract language. Among those tools are the bargaining program and the model contract.

The bargaining program provides an extensive list of topics over which locals may choose to bargain. The model contract provides actual contract language that expresses the goals of the bargaining program, as well as a suggested format for collective agreements. Together, the program and model contract provide a powerful tool for analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of existing contracts and for determining the proposals that advance the interests of our members and the purposes of the union.

Using the Bargaining Program to Develop Proposals

The program is divided into ten broad categories of proposals over which Guild locals typically negotiate. Each of those categories contain a number of bargaining goals that help to fulfill the Guild's purpose. The categories are:

1. union rights
2. employment security
3. air employment practices
4. employee rights
5. hours and premium pay
6. wages
7. benefits
8. contract enforcement
9. safety and health
10. duration and successorship

In preparing to negotiate, locals are encouraged to analyze an expiring contract for sufficiency of content in each of these tens areas and to make proposals to improve the agreement in each category.

To help with the development of proposals, each of the ten categories contain sub-classifications that offer ideas for proposals on each issue, along with a reference to a specific section of the model contract that expresses the bargaining objective in the form of contract language. Locals can extract ideas for bargaining proposals from the program, and use the language of the model contract for proposals on the issues they choose to address.

In addition to selecting goals from the bargaining program, negotiators are strongly encouraged to solicit the concerns of the unit's members and leaders through surveys, membership meetings and one-on-one contacts. The results of those contacts should help to shape the unit's bargaining goals.

Some issues are so fundamental to the development of a viable collective agreement that the Guild's Executive Council, and sector conference delegates, have singled them out for special consideration in the development of contract proposals. Each of these items must be included in an expiring contract, or the local is constitutionally required to make proposals for the item's inclusion in negotiations for a successor agreement:

1) a union security clause
2) a requirement of just and sufficient cause for discharge
3) a grievance procedure and binding, third-party arbitration system
4) wage scales that fix the minimum amount employees may earn
5) a clause defining union jurisdiction and protecting the union against the loss of work
6) provisions incorporating seniority and length of service in wages, hours and working conditions
7) a contract that promotes diversity and protects against discrimination.

The vast majority of existing collective bargaining agreements within the Guild contain provisions that adequately address each of these issues, but in instances where contracts lack these fundamental provisions, proposals must be made in negotiations to have the issues addressed in the next contract.

Although the model contract provides suggested language for satisfying each of these goals, locals are not required to achieve the wording of the model contract to fulfill the bargaining objective. The point is to include terms in each collective agreement that provides the benefits and/or protections of each of the six objectives.

An outline of the ten categories of proposals, the sub-classifications and the required proposals is printed on the next page.

The Guild staff is available to help locals with the analysis of their contracts, the development of bargaining goals and the pursuit of those goals at the negotiating table. Locals that request the assistance of TNG staff will be required to develop and utilize a membership mobilization structure to help support the bargaining goals throughout the negotiating process.

Wage data, clause studies and examples of specific contract language from other Guild agreements are available upon request from TNG's collective bargaining department. The current minimum wage tables and clause studies are included in this book. Locals are strongly encouraged to use these resources to help them build a better contract.

Finally, a reminder that locals must carefully observe the constitutional and statutory guidelines that govern collective bargaining. Those requirements are contained in other sections of this manual, but in summary, Article XIX, Section 3 of the Guild's constitution requires locals to:

  ♦  Have the terms of all opening proposals approved by TNG before submitting the proposal to the employer

  ♦  Keep TNG informed of the progress of negotiationsSeek the approval of TNG before submitting any tentative agreements for membership ratification, unless strike approval has been granted

  ♦  Provide TNG a copy of the final agreement prior to signing, and a copy of the final agreement once it is signed.

Although not required by the constitution, locals also are encouraged to provide TNG with an electronic copy of the final agreement, either on a disk or by e-mail.