Unifor Local 2000 held a ratification vote for Black Press Lower Mainland members to decide whether they wanted to accept the tentative agreement reached after six months of bargaining.
The vote was held at Crossroads Restaurant in Abbotsford, on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018, and 85 per cent of members present voted to accept the agreement.
Results are as follows:
Eligible voters: 69
Ballots cast/turnout: 39
Question: Are you in favour of accepting the tentative agreement arrived at with Black Press as presented to you by the bargaining committee of Unifor Local 2000?
Yes votes: 33
No votes: 6
Percent in favour: 85
Here are the highlights from the contract, which were sent out by email last week.
Black Press Lower Mainland Tentative Agreement Highlights:
Thank you all for your patience while we worked through this latest round of bargaining, and a huge thank you to the bargaining committee volunteers for their contributions over the past six months: Janice McDonald from the Hope Standard; Paul Scanlan, chief shop steward at the Vantage Way Press; Louise Meger, shop steward at the Chilliwack Progress; Alex Browne, editorial representative from the Peace Arch News and Bonnie Pierotti, classifieds representative from the Abbotsford News. National Representative Peter McQuade led the negotiations.
Please note this overview below includes highlights only. Read the tentative agreement for the full details and all of the changes. Also, anywhere that this list of highlights and the tentative agreement conflict, the tentative agreement shall prevail.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Terms and wages, articles 1 and 2:
- Wage increases total three per cent over three years with a $550 signing bonus upon ratification. Breakdown is as follows: In 2018, one per cent increase; 2019, a one per cent increase; 2020, another one per cent increase.
- Contract is effective Jan. 1, 2016 to Dec. 31, 2020
- The wage grid now includes additional years, so new hires will have to work longer to get to the top rate. No current employees will be adversely affected by this. (Meaning your pay won’t decrease because of the new grid.)
Hours of work, article 21:
- Journalists are still on a schedule of 75 hours over two weeks, but the work days for are now 7.5 consecutive hours, which reduces the likelihood of split shifts. There are, however, exceptions for scheduled events, like council meetings or hockey games. In these cases, the company can split your shift (see section 21.24 for details.)
- The company can schedule one journalist to work both Saturday and Sunday, provided that he or she has two consecutive days off elsewhere in the week.
- A journalist and an editor can vary a shift schedule (ie: alter it) provided both parties mutually agree.
Overtime, articles 22.07/22.12:
- The first hour of overtime is paid at a rate of 1.5, and anything after that is doubletime.
- Any reporters working more than 75 hours in two weeks are entitled to overtime.
Callback, Article 26:
- Callback is for anyone who works a full regular workday and then gets called back to work for some reason. Employees will get overtime plus travel time for four hours minimum. Reporters, however, will get a 10 per cent premium for two hours only if they work outside of the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. window.
Mobile phones, Article 30.05:
- Monthly mobile phone allowance increases from $25 to $30, and journalists get $40.
Severance, Article 17:
- Severance is now capped at 78 weeks, and it’s based on the average straight time, (no longer the highest) of the employee’s last 52 weeks of work.
Vacation:
- Vacation is capped at five weeks but anyone at six weeks will be grandfathered in.
Jurisdiction/coverage:
- Several papers no longer operating or owned by Black Press have been deleted from the jurisdiction language.
- Creative services references have been deleted, as the company has moved their work to Everett, Washington, and there are no creative services people left in the Lower Mainland.
Commission:
- See pages 23, 24 and 25 for changes (mostly housekeeping) made to the commission structure for sales.
Vantage Way pressroom:
- See page 28 to 34 for Letter of Agreement No. 4, which covers press hall specifics. Some changes were made to lunches and language around flypackers vs. flyboys.
Birthday stat:
- Current employees keep their birthday stat (free day off for your birthday) but anyone hired after the ratification date won’t get it.
Self assigning clause for reporters:
- We now have language to cover reporters who “self assign” (ie: watch Slack and cover breaking news after hours). Self assigning is optional, but if you choose to go out, you will be paid straight time for it, and it counts towards your 75 hour work week.
Housekeeping:
- Several LOAs were deleted, and many references to CEP were updated to Unifor.
Any questions or concerns, contact Jennifer Moreau, secretary-treasurer, at 604-816-5204, or [email protected].
In solidarity,
Jennifer Moreau
Secretary-Treasurer, Unifor Local 2000
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