Sarasota Herald-Tribune Interim Agreement
September 2017 – In August, members of the Guild unit at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune ratified an interim agreement with their employer, GateHouse Media, resolving issues that required a quick turnaround. The paper was sold by former owner Halifax Media to GateHouse in November 2014. The new employer promptly proceeded to implement layoffs, which in turn triggered a successful union organizing effort.
The employer wanted to institute a new corporate timekeeping system in January 2018, and the Guild wanted employees to have the right to use unpaid leave for union business.
The 16-month agreement allows for union leave based on language in the Guild’s proposals, and a change in the time-recording system lifted in large part from a Guild contract at another GateHouse property. It also covers scheduling, just cause for discipline and discharge, paid time off, and procedures for reducing staff. The interim agreement is similar to settlements reached by other locals at GateHouse shops, where the Guild demanded to bargain over any changes to initial terms of employment following a purchase by Gatehouse or a successful organizing campaign.
Negotiators agreed to add four annual personal days, established minimum wage rates that allow the company to pay higher amounts, and stipulated that layoffs will be done in reverse order of seniority, though the company has the right to skip up to two employees in each round of layoffs. The approach to layoffs was a strategic move by the Guild’s team, to use seniority as much as possible while providing those with the least amount of time on the job the potential to remain employed.
The agreement also allows members of the bargaining unit to participate in a company-wide bonus plan on the same basis as non-represented (mostly managerial) employees. Generally, this means that if the paper meets its revenue goals for any quarter, employees will get a 2 percent bonus. (For example, someone earning $50,000 annually makes $12,500 per quarter. That person’s bonus would be $250.)
The bargaining team also reached agreement on a grievance procedure, which includes final and binding arbitration.
In addition, the agreement includes a new concept for formerly “at-will” employees: no discipline or dismissal may be issued except for “just and sufficient cause.”