Timesland Guild pushes back against company proposals harmful to local journalism
The Timesland News Guild is pushing back against a number of proposals from Lee Enterprises that would further erode our local journalism and worsen our already challenging working conditions.
It's disappointing that in the early months of Lee Enterprises' new ownership of The Roanoke Times, the company is making proposals that don't recognize the value of the journalists. We've only been bargaining for a month, and while both sides have expressed interest in working efficiently toward a deal on a contract, the company is digging its heels into a few harmful proposals.
Those include:
The right to require employees to take furloughs, or unpaid time off, at any time the company likes for whatever length of time the company likes. Notice would need to be provided to the union just two weeks in advance. Company representatives said they hope furloughs like the ones we endured last quarter would never happen again, but they insist they need this flexibility.
The right to cut the hours of full-time employees from 40 to 30. Though employees would retain their benefits in this scenario, their pay would be severely diminished by the reduction in hours. Company representatives claim this would help them to "retain talent" while responding to the hardships of local newspapers.
The right to use temporary employees to replace full-time employees. Temporary employees would only work for The Roanoke Times for a few months and wouldn't receive benefits. In our discussions about temporary employees, the union has included language saying the use of temporary employees should not result in the layoff of an employee, elimination of a bargaining unit position or a reduction of bargaining unit hours. Company representatives have repeatedly eliminated this language in their counter proposals. If holes are created by the loss of full-time positions, they want the ability to use temporary employees to fill those gaps.
Central to the company's arguments for each of these proposals is its need for flexibility — the flexibility to slash jobs and hours. These proposals would gravely diminish the quality of our journalism and be a disservice to our community and readers.
We're well aware of the negative effects of furloughs on our newsroom. We can't do more, or even maintain what we currently do, with less. And that's what all of these proposals would leave us with.
The bargaining team is vehemently opposed to these proposals and fighting them, and we need the journalists and the readers to be aware of these proposals and take them seriously. We urge the company to work with the journalists toward a fair contract and reconsider its efforts to grind down our newsroom. We stand ready to work with the company on ways to help grow and improve The Roanoke Times.
