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PD CAREER-TRANSITION DAY • LINK HERE

A journalism career might take you to retirement,
but if not… What’s your Plan B?

You might not need one, but it’s always good to be thinking ahead. So we’ve designed a day for all
Plain Dealer newsroom employees with a special focus on the 27 recently laid-off.

PLACE:  Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Ave. (free parking behind church, off Prospect)
DATE:  Saturday, January 10, 2009
TIME:  7:45 a.m. doors open. Program starts 8:15 a.m., ends at 3:00 p.m.
MEALS: Breakfast, lunch and dessert reception included in entrance fee.

Professional career coaches on:

• Making your resume work for you
• Finding transferrable skills and strengths
• Marketing your talents and expertise
• Interviewing and negotiating a salary

One-on-one sessions:

Bring your resume for a constructive critique
Meet with a career coach to jumpstart your job search

Choose from panels on:

• Working for foundations and non-profits
• Public relations and marketing jobs
• Careers in graphics, photography and web design
• Higher education: Returning to college to teach or get another degree.
• Freelancing, online journalism and radio opportunities
• Post Plain Dealer Success Stories: our colleagues show us the way ahead

Cost:

Free for the 50 (Recently laid off or who took buyouts)
$25 for Guild employees • $50 for all others (management, other media members, etc.)

Deadline to register is January 5.

This event is open to ALL current and former members of the media in Greater Cleveland. It will fill up fast, so please register ASAP. Any profits will be donated to the Guild to help those who have been laid off.

PRE-REGISTRATION IS MANDATORY.

Anyone registering at the event will be charged $10 extra. You can register online with PayPal. If you don’t have a PayPal account, you will be offered the opportunity to set one up when you register.

Go to www.MediaTransitionDay.EventBrite.com OR make checks payable to Harlan Spector.

A schedule of speakers will soon be posted on this Plain Dealer Web page, so check back.

FOR INFORMATION: Call Harlan Spector at 216-999-4543 or Regina Brett at 216-932-6234.

MORTGAGE INFO

Many consumers aren't aware that homeowners who can't afford their mortgage payments may be in a position to get better terms on their mortgage. Much like the borrowers themselves, lenders would prefer borrowers not face foreclosure.

The goals of the lender are to collect all or as much as possible of the original loan amount while creating a payment that a borrower can afford, typically somewhere around 38% of their monthly gross income. If a borrower falls under certain payment criteria (not making too much or too little), the following options may be available to them:

New terms from the lender that reduces the interest rate temporarily or permanently. A longer payment time period (usually 40 years). A deferral of the principal (usually at zero interest).

How can a borrower seek a loan modification? The first step would be to call the number on your monthly mortgage statements and:

Discuss your financial situation, including your income, debts and household expenditures. Explain any financial hardship that you may have suffered. Hand over copies of your recent paycheck stubs and bank statements.

Some borrowers will receive a loan modification offer, subject to verification of income, by the end of that first conversation. Others will need to wait for the lender to review all of the submitted materials.

DEAR GUILD COLLEAGUES ...

It's not easy to find comforting words. Not for 27 of our friends and co-workers who were laid off last week. Not for those they leave behind.

This is undoubtedly our union’s darkest period ever at The Plain Dealer. But our members have shown remarkable character. So many have stepped up in crisis — just look at the efforts listed below on this Web page. The good nature of people is like therapy for the heaviness in our hearts.

We have a lot happening: fundraising; a career day (details coming soon); social networking; financial help; and a great party Dec. 18 to honor colleagues who lost their jobs.

We also have hard work ahead in our fight in the workplace. We have to make sure the layoffs did not discriminate or violate the contract. We have to make
sure our work in the newsroom remains our work. We can’t let the company dismiss our members and move their managers into our jobs. We also have a mobilization campaign to continue.

Look for a unit meeting next week to discuss these issues.

We are all weary. But we press on for the ones who had to come back and, with tears in their eyes, pack up their desks.

Hang together strong. — Harlan

IMPORTANT JOB INFO FOR THOSE LAID OFF!

For members laid off from The Plain Dealer: Each person who would like their job back should notify their supervisor, by email and then again in letter form:

"I will be interested in applying for any opening at The Plain Dealer, in the Guild bargaining unit or elsewhere."

As positions become available — such as one in Columbus now or others through attrition — it is wise to be on the record as wanting to be considered for these jobs. — Karen Long

FROM MARY ANN WHITLEY —

The same week the PD laid off people, The Indianapolis Star, where I worked for 5 years, also had layoffs. A friend of mine there, who I worked with when I was there from 1986-91, Martha Allan, got laid off. She was assistant sports copy desk chief at the time, and always was a talented editor. Another friend at the Star tuned me in to a blog run by a former Star reporter, Ruth Holladay. It may be worth taking a look at things written about their situation, including a short piece by one of their feature writers, Chris Lloyd, about his experience. It may be therapeutic or it may be too painful--you will have to decide.

You will eventually find Lloyd's piece, if you keep scrolling back through previous pages of her blog. One thing's for sure, lots of people are going through the same thing. Unfortunately it is a fraternity no one wants to belong to. — Mary Ann

MEET WITH A FINANCIAL PLANNER

For members who were laid off: Terri Murray has lined up a bunch of certified financial planners who've agreed to help one person each pro bono.... If you need advice, email Terri at Terri@usa.com

She's in the office until Dec. 17 and then gone until after the holidays.

Please add me to the list on the union site of folks offering help laid-off Guild folks looking for insight on setting up a basic Web site, getting their own Web address, or anything else they'd think I'd be able to help with. — Chris Seper

FUND FOR LAID OFF PD WORKERS

Pledges are still being accepted at The Plain Dealer Credit Union for The Newspaper Guild Fund -- money that will be divided equally in 2009 among the 27 employees dismissed Dec. 2.

Please see committee members Karen Long, Stan Donaldson, John Gruner or Mike Scott or send your pledge to (michaelscott1981@att.net). Deposits can be made directly to the credit union (Make checks payable to PDCU and put account # 14869 on the memo line), but make sure you also let Mike know the pledge amount so it can be accurately counted.

So far, more than 35 employees or retired employees (including current management employees) have pledged to donate more than $13,000 in one-time gifts or periodic deposits.

Ideas for giving: One employee has asked his family for primarily cash gifts on Christmas so he can make a donation to the fund; another has been auctioning off tickets to an event and another simply donated the proceeds of the sale of tickets to another event.

Retired PD workers can contribute, too. Just send a check to the PD Credit Union, to the account number, made out to The Newspaper Guild Fund.

CHECK TRI-C FOR SOME ASSISTANCE

For resume help, etc., check out the career counseling offices at Tri-C. They're open to the public and they are free. The one at the East Campus offers regular workshops on resume writing, interviewing skills, etc. I imagine the offices at the other two campuses are open as well.

For web design, etc., I'd recommend the VCD department at East. They offer short 8 week classes that are flexibly scheduled. I've taken so many, I'm just about 5 courses away from a degree. One tip: you need to be comfortable with a MAC! If any one wants specifics, feel free to share my email.

Lastly, I'm on everyone's job site. I can post or send information to anyone who needs it. Also, I'll set up a four page website if I can use it in my portfolio. No charge.

Here's one I've done recently: www.wswjrfoundation.org

— Afi Scruggs

NEED TO TALK?

Bill Meyer's wife, Kim Meyer, is a professional clinical counselor. She has offered to counsel laid-off Guild members six to eight sessions for free. Her office is at 101 N. Court Street, Suite 2, Medina. By appointment only: 330-858-3407.

WONDERING ABOUT HEALTH INSURANCE?

http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/

JOBS PAGE HAS SOME GOOD UPDATES: cleveland clinic, AMA, resume help ... others!

BREAKFAST GATHERING IN JANUARY

The first PD Separation Breakfast Meeting, for former and current PDers, will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 8 a.m. at Denny's, 6100 Rockside Rd., Independence. At that time the group will decide when and where to meet in the future.

This is separate from the retirees' breakfast meeting, although retired PDers are welcome. This meeting is meant to offer support for those who have been laid off.

If you plan to attend, please email Julie Washington or Diane Suchetka so that we can have a rough count of how many to expect. See new page with home e-mails.

NEED FINANCIAL OR MORTGAGE ADVICE?

If there are laid off colleagues who have financial questions that I can help with, I'm happy to do so. If I don't know the answer, I can find out.

So if people have questions about tax implications of lump-sum payments or about how to renegotiate their mortgage or roll over their 401k from the PD to an IRA, I can sit down with anybody who needs help. (It'd be a great time to roll an 401k to a Roth IRA because of the tax savings. I'm actually writing about that now.)

— Teresa Murray
Terri@usa.com

MORTGAGE IDEAS

My husband Tom would be happy to talk to anyone with questions about a home loan. Mortgage lenders are required to offer help and it's in their interest to keep their customers solvent. The banks can change the terms of your loan or temporarily lower your payments, among other things, if you are in a financial crisis. He's at home (216) 921-8669 and would be happy to let anyone know the kinds of questions they should be asking. — Janet Okoben

LOCATION CHANGED ON DEC. 18 GATHERING!
It's now at the Agora on Euclid Ave. at E. 50th.
CLICK FOR MORE INFO!

SIGN UP FOR LUNCH GROUP'S NOTIFICATION LIST

Former PD staffers meet quarterly for lunch all around the area. According to Jo Ann Pallant, 24-50 people have been showing up. If you want to get on the notification list, call her at 440-734-1923 or email her at japallant@sbcglobal.net — Scott Stephens

GUILD GATHERING DEC. 18 at AGORA

It may not be the most wonderful time of the year. But, after months of pending doom, it’s time to take a break and honor our colleagues’ accomplishments.

In lieu of a traditional holiday party, the Guild is hosting a potluck get-together Thursday, Dec. 18, at the Agora. Please come to relax, say goodbye to departing co-workers and celebrate the season.

First drinks will be free at the bar. The restaurant will serve up some chips and wings. And we’re asking others to share a dish - salad, finger foods, dessert or whatever’s on sale at Giant Eagle.

The gathering will also raise money for a fund to support our colleagues who get laid off. We’ll have a $5 donation at the door, plus a silent auction. Donations of items or services for the auction are appreciated!

Please e-mail Laura Johnston at ljohnsto@plaind.com to sign up for a potluck dish. Or e-mail Brie Zeltner at bzeltner@plaind.com to offer an item to auction.

Who: You
What: Guild End-of-the-Year Gathering
When: 6:30-8:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 18
Where: At the Agora, Euclid Ave. at E. 50th.
Why: To wrap up the year with our colleagues.

Bay Area newsrooms fighting back against layoffs
Search is on for real solutions
17 Nov 2008

Layoffs at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and Bay Area News Group-East Bay have inspired more than the all-too-typical sadness and resentment being seen these days in so many newsrooms around the country.

Now, the journalists are fighting back:

*Press Democrat workers have begun a work-to-rule campaign to register their ongoing disgust with the job cuts. Guild members at the New York Times-owned daily issued a stinging rebuke to management, wore black to work on the day

the latest layoffs were implemented, and set up two rank-and-file committees to press the case during the months ahead. Some reporters have dropped their first names from bylines as part of the ongoing protest.

*BANG-EB members filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board to protest management’s attempt to implement layoffs without first negotiating terms with the Guild. After initially claiming they had no duty to bargain, managers reversed course and rescinded the layoffs. Talks were set to begin on Monday, Nov. 17.

Guild leaders across the country said they hoped this would help spark a renewed search for real solutions to the economic woes of the news business. In January, a national summit will be held Jan. 10-11 in Maryland, led by Guild President Bernie Lunzer and leaders of the broadcast and printing sectors of the Guild’s parent union, the Communications Workers of America.

Topics on the summit agenda include new approaches to organizing, contract bargaining, technology and alternative ownership models. Academic and industry financial experts are scheduled to participate. Guild newsrooms from across the country are being invited to send representatives.

“A lot of things are changing, and we need to change, too,” Lunzer said duing a meeting of Midwest locals this weekend in Detroit - where much of the talk focused on how to respond to the painful impact of reduced newspaper revenues.

Surrender clearly is not the favored option in any region. The successful organizing of the BANG-EB in June 2008, and pending merger of the Northern California and San Jose Guild locals into a stronger combined local, may be evidence that newsroom workers are willing to push back.

Guild members at the San Jose Mercury News have begun mobilizing for their own contract campaign in alliance with the BANG-EB as well as the Guild-covered workforce at the San Francisco Chronicle. In Southern California, talks at the Long Beach Press Telegram are at a critical point, and negotiations will begin soon at the Los Angeles Daily News.

Hopes for a resurgence have been bolstered by the stunning Nov. 4 election results. Workers in virtually every industry have their own version of horror story under way after eight years of the Bush administraton. Now, unions are hoping the incoming Obama administration may help write a new chapter, by speeding enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act, to restore organizing rights, and ending the era of anti-union ideologues setting policy at the NLRB in Washington.

No one expects a quick end to the hemorrhaging of newsroom jobs - particularly with the national economy slumping into what could be the deepest recession in generations.

But the campaigns in the newsrooms California show glimmers of life in an industry some outsiders are starting to write off for dead.

At Santa Rosa, most of the staff turned out for emergency meetings that underscored the need for solidarity and value of the union in the face of slumping morale.

Susan Church, an editorial assistant who was about to be laid off, recounted the benefits of the union when one of her soon-to-be-former colleagues expressed frustration at the Guild’s inability to stop the job cuts.

She sent an email to the staff, worth quoting at length:

“I've worked at all kinds of companies/agencies in a variety of industries at levels from grunt to vice president over the last 46 years; only two places have been unionized. Many of the union benefits are clearly evident to me. Here they are: When I leave here, I'll be getting severence pay. I'll be getting a lump sum retirement and a (small) monthly pension. For eight years, I've been a part-time employee with full benefits. I don't expect to get that anywhere else. I have benefited from having my seniority counted -- otherwise I could have been let go years ago in favor of someone younger, cuter, whatever. I have not been treated like a criminal, having someone else sent to my desk to get my personal property before being ushered out the door. That's all because of the union.

“During my first month here, a copy editor blew up and started yelling and cursing at me (not about me, just at me). I didn't give it much thought, having come from a job where I was yelled at on a daily basis for three years and popped Excedrins like they were breath mints. To my amazement, I was summoned to speak with management about my "trauma" and the matter was dropped only after I assured them that I never felt threatened, had no residual stress disorder, etc., etc. That's because there's a union.

“Those are just a few things which might be easy to take for granted. I don't, because I know how bad it can get out there. As I prepare to leave for "out there" again, I want to stress how blessed it's been to have a guild and the daily benefits of membership. Many of the better companies I've worked for that weren't unionized were kept honest by the threat of unionization - they pre-empted the unions by conferring benefits that they never would have given otherwise.”

She closed by thanking her unit officers, Derek Moore and Bleys Rose, and a common bumper-sticker: "The Union - the folks who brought you the weekend."

At the BANG-EB, negotiations are under way for a first contract after the unit organized in June. Management and Guild negotiators have agreed to a few basic provisions, including the rudiments of a grievance procedure, but no job-security language or layoff protections have been set.

Even so, the fledgling Guild unit has legal rights to negotiate alternative approaches to layoffs. Last week, those rights were ignored when the owners, MediaNews Group, announced the layoff of eight Guild-covered employees with virtually no notice and minimal severance.

That plan was stopped by the union’s NLRB protest. Guild representatives gave the company some credit for reconsidering what by all accounts was a mistake in procedures, if not a deliberate attempt to weaken the Guild’s bargaining power.

In any case, negotiators on both sides agreed to meet this morning in Pleasanton to discuss the company’s need for cutting costs and some options other than layoff - the third round of job cuts since the BANG-EB organizing drive began a little more than one year ago.

The Guild’s bargaining committee polled members for alternative ideas, and planned to challenge the management to at least consider such options as voluntary buyouts, job-sharing, stronger rehire rights and transfers to other newsrooms.

It’s unclear, of course, whether management will show much flexibility. But it appeared that the negotiations would at minimum give the targeted employees a little longer to prepare for unemployment: All eight, including four of the company’s best photographers, a copy editor, reporter and editorial assistant, were told they would be kept on the payroll while the talks are under way.

PENSION FREEZE IS LIKELY ON JAN. 1

Barring a resurgence in the stock market or action by the federal government to relax pension law requirements, the Guild-PD pension plan will be frozen next year.

The Guild and the Plain Dealer reached an agreement Monday, Nov. 17, 2008, that will likely freeze the pension accruals of benefits and service time for Guild bargaining unit employees effective Jan. 1, 2009, through Dec. 31, 2009.

However, if the pension plan funding level on 12/31/2008 meets or exceeds the benchmark of 94 percent funding as mandated by the federal Pension Protection Act, there will be no freeze. Also, if payments required by law to make up any funding shortfall are lower than projected contributions for 2009, there will only be a partial freeze.

In addition, if the federal government suspends or modifies provisions of the Pension Protection Act so that no under-funded amount exists in the plan for 2009, bargaining unit employees will earn full pension accruals for the year.

The recent free fall in the stock market has left plan funds down about 25 percent from last fall. That has resulted in the funding level for meeting the federal benchmark to drop below 94 percent as of the end of October. Prior to the stock market drop, the plan funding level was above 99 percent.

If the funding level is not clearly above 94 percent at the end of this year, the pension will be frozen. If a full review by the actuary, which can take a couple months, shows the plan actually did make its benchmark, the plan will be unfrozen retroactively to Jan. 1, 2009.

By law, if the plan is not at 94 percent funding by the end of 2008, the new benchmark automatically becomes 100 percent funding (instead of 94 percent for 2009). The plan will be required to amortize (over seven years) whatever amount the plan is underfunded. That yearly amount must be paid before any contributions can go toward accruals.

Here’s an example for a partial freeze. If the amortization payment is $350,000 per year, and contributions are projected at $700,000 per year, there would be a 50 percent freeze. — Rollie Dreuss

TERRY EGGER INTERVIEW ON WKYC

See Terry's interview.

ARTICLE IN CRAIN'S ABOUT PD LAYOFF SITUATION
Nov. 17, 2008

Crain's Cleveland Business has posted an article on the layoff situation at The Plain Dealer.

NEWSPAPERS CUTTING TALENT TO TRIM COSTS

November 17, 2008
By DAVID CARR | The New York Times

In March 2007, Circuit City came up with a plan to confront softening sales and competition from online and offline retailers: fire the most talented, experienced employees.

Of course, those workers were the retail chain’s single most important point of difference from the legion of Internet retailers and general merchandisers, but in a single stroke, Philip J. Schoonover, the chief executive of Circuit City, wiped out that future.

As a pal of mine used to say when I described a particularly boneheaded course of action I had pursued, “How’d that work out for you, buddy?”

For Circuit City, not so great. The “wage management initiative” erased morale, both for employees and the folks who shopped there. Sales sank after the one-time gain from the layoffs. And last week, the company sought bankruptcy protection.

Mr. Schoonover joined his former employees in the discard box in September, a nice bit of symmetry until you factor in his $1.8 million in severance, $50,000 in outplacement services and a two-year cushion on health benefits. (The clerks axed in Wichita and Tucson got a bit less.)

In the digital age, we’re told, the critical difference between success and failure is human capital — those heartbeats and fast hands that can make a good business great. So are newspapers reacting to their downturn as Circuit City did?

Every day, Romenesko, a journalism blog at the Poynter Institute, is rife with news of layoffs at newspapers, most of the time featuring some important, trusted names. It is not the young fresh faces that are getting whacked — they come cheap — but the most experienced, proven people in the room, the equivalent of the sales clerk who could walk you through a thicket of widescreen television choices to the one that actually works for you.

Using clerks as an analogue may not be the most flattering comparison, but I have always thought of journalism as more craft than profession and tell students that it is the accumulation of experience and technique that makes a journalist valuable, not some ineffable beckoning of the muse.

Right now, the consumer has all manner of text to choose from on platforms that range from a cellphone to broadsheet. The critical point of difference journalism offers is that it can reduce the signal-to-noise ratio and provide trusted, branded information. That will be a business into the future, perhaps less paper-bound and smaller, but a very real business.

Newspapers, which began the race with a huge lead in terms of human assets, may end up just another part of the underinformed commodity of clutter.

“Circulation declines were deeper in the last period, and I have to say that I think it has to do with the quality problems from cuts,” said Ken Doctor, a media analyst at Outsell Inc., a market analysis firm. “It is not just the cutting, but the cutting of more-experienced staff, a kind of slow-motion suicide. Circuit City cut its own throat by not realizing what their competitive advantage is, and newspapers are doing the same thing.”

Last week, Media General, a company that owns newspapers, television stations and Web sites in the Southeast, eliminated 80 positions in Florida, including a prominent columnist and the editorial page editor at The Tampa Tribune. “The Book of Ruth,” a long-running wiseacre feature by the longtime columnist Dan Ruth, will be missed, now and then. He and the editorial page editor, Rosemary Goudreau, follow a political columnist, Joe Brown, the movie critic Bob Ross and the classical music critic Kurt Loft to the exit.

Readers, especially the ones cranky and serious enough to still be buying newspapers, have not missed the trend.

“Fire your best employees and watch your business go out of business, just like Circuit City is finding out right now. Who wants to read old news when one can find quality articles outside of the TampaTribe. Bye Bye TampaTrib, you have fired one too many of your excellent personnel and now I am firing you!” said a reader, Bob, in a comment posted to The Feed blog at TampaBay.com, a media blog by Eric Deggans, a media and television reporter at The St. Petersburg Times.

Yes, the revenue picture is grim and growing grimmer. The biggest outlay besides putting the printed artifact on the street is salaries. And journalists tend to get a lot more indignant when the sheet cake and goodbye speeches are being served up on behalf of people who have the same job as they have.

But there is a business argument to be made here. Having missed the implications of the Web and allowed both their content and their audience to be scraped away by aggregators and ad networks, newspapers are now working furiously to maintain audience, build new ad models and renovate presentation. But they won’t stay relevant to readers with generic content ginned up by newbies with no background in the communities they serve.

“Newspapers are aimed at the movers and shakers in a community — the car dealers, the retailers, the restaurant owners,” said Alan D. Mutter, a technology and media consultant who blogs at Reflections of a Newsosaur (www.newsosaur.blogspot.com). “When they get together and realize that they are looking at the paper, that it is less compelling than it used to be, it creates a vicious cycle of weaker readership and weaker advertising.”

Last week, Sam Zell, a one-man newspaper wrecking crew running the Tribune Company, was interviewed at the FourSquare conference, the annual conclave of media moguls put on by Steve Rattner. I was not there, but I spoke to two people — neither of them journalists — who listened and were appalled by his disregard for his newspapers, including The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times.

Based on my conversation with those attendees, Mr. Zell, who, through a spokesman, declined to comment, suggested that newsrooms were just so much overhead and that what was ailing the industry was overweening journalistic ambition. I’ve read Mr. Zell’s products since he took over. I’ve seen his handiwork, including laying off Lynell George at The Los Angeles Times and Jeffrey Meitrodt at The Chicago Tribune, just two of the many veterans I happen to know he has sacrificed on the altar of debt service.

Newspapers confront tall, menacing seas in the coming year, but it is a sure bet that the ones that dump the ablest hands on deck will be among the first to sink below the waves.

MEETINGS | BREAKING NEWS

DAVID BRIGGS' MEETING

David Briggs' meeting yesterday about how we can help each other during the trying times ahead produced wonderful ideas.

The group was broken into a number of committees to take on specific challenges. Here's the rundown:

Social Committee:
• Driven by a desire to stay in touch and commiserate before and after the layoffs. Discussion included periodic breakfast or lunch gatherings, or events like a hike in the Metroparks.
• Also talk of a “buddy’’ system, in which colleagues stay in touch one-on-one.
• A send-off to honor the service of those who are laid off, in lieu of a Guild Christmas party.
• Discussion of a Holiday toy purchase for kids.
• Strong sentiment for a gathering the day that layoffs are announced.
• Also suggestion of an advertisement that would recognize the good works of those who are laid off.
• JoEllen Corrigan said she’d work on setting up a blog. A Facebook page is also under construction.

Morale committee:
Discussion of finding counselors to talk about career options and what to expect emotionally before and after the layoffs. Trinity Commons could be a good meeting place.

Fund raising committee:
Options for establishing a "help'' fund ranged from putting aside a portion of weekly paychecks, to raffles, to voluntary giving.

Odds and ends:
Diane Suchetka said she would check with Tri-C about discounts for classes like web page design, if we can get a number of folks together.

Thank you Tom Breckenridge for putting together this report. We will keep everyone posted on these efforts. — Harlan

Buyouts hit The Ann Arbor News, but they get health care. Read about it.

See the On-Line Memorandum of Agreement the Guild and PD agreed to 10-22-07. Also available with contract material below.

COBRA NUMBERS FROM JOAN MAZZOLINI — Nov. 13

The COBRA amounts - starting Jan. 1 - for the new Kaiser plan are:

For the Kaiser expanded plan - tier 2 - with prescription drugs

Single - $373 a month
2-person (adults) - $744
Parent and child(ren) - $670
Family - $1,112

The Kaiser expanded plan including dental and vision - as well as drugs

Single - $411 a month
2-person - $785
Adult and child(ren) - $710
Family - $1,154

Kaiser HMO - tier 1 - insurance and prescription drugs

single - $352 a month
2-person - $703
Parent and child(ren) - $633
Family - $1,050

Kaiser HMO - tier 1 - insurance, drugs, and dental and vision

Single - $391
2-person (adults) - $744
Adult and child(ren) - $672
Family - $1,092

There is an 18 month limitation for COBRA coverage.

However, a special rule exits for disabled people to extend their COBRA for another 11 months. It's a little complicated and the Social Security Administration must make a determination that a the person was totally and permanently disabled before they left work. The rates are slightly higher.

UNHEALTHY REALITY UNFOLDS

While Cleveland's only newspaper heralded the new HealthLine in headlines, an unhealthy reality unfolded at The Plain Dealer.

The PD plans to lay off up to 50 newsroom employees right before Christmas without extending health-care benefits. The layoffs unfairly target members of Local 1 of The Newspaper Guild, the union representing journalists who bring you the news.

Local 1 views as unfair and anti-union the fact its members -- the news-gathering core of the paper -- were offered nothing more than voluntary layoffs. Non-union PD workers were offered buyouts with generous health care provisions. And no non-union employees will be laid off.

The Plain Dealer holds itself up in daily editorials as a moral authority. It dedicates a section of the paper each week to the importance of health. And while the newspaper endorsed Barack Obama for president – by extension an endorsement of universal health care – PD Publisher Terrance Egger is willing to put the health of his workers at risk.

Who pays the price? Besides workers, it’s you the taxpayer. Government pays more than 75 percent of the cost of uncompensated care for the uninsured. And the PD unit has several employees and family members may never be insured again if their coverage lapses. The company has suggested those people use COBRA. Try paying that bloated premium when you have no job.

But the loss of journalism jobs also means fewer news staffers to cover and report on community events. The Plain Dealer plays an important role in the vitality of the community. Job losses reduce -- therefore hurt --the community as a whole.

Please tell Mr. Egger to do right by the community and right by his workers: Contact him at tegger@plaind.com, or 216-999-4216. — Rollie Dreuss

COMPANY PROPOSES THAT WE PAY HEALTH CARE
Nov 7, 2008

Yesterday we met with labor relations. It was our third meeting with them about layoffs and our push to get the company to provide health care coverage.

The company is now proposing WE pay for health care.

They want us to take money from our health fund reserve to pay for 3-months of coverage. That would be about $75,000 out of a $700,000 reserve.

This amounts to a concession. You would not feel it now, but it could mean at some point we have to make up the difference through a future wage deferral. Even if it's only a buck or two, it's still your money.

Karen Long asked if they would share the burden. The company said no.

Our position remains the same. We are obligated of course to examine all proposals. The next step is for the health board trustees to look at it.

Meanwhile, mobilization efforts continue. Stay tuned. — Harlan

HOME E-MAIL LIST — MORE VOLUNTEERS
Nov. 6, 2008

We are trying to assemble a list of home e-mail addresses for our Plain Dealer members. This will help us stay connected during these tough times.

Debbie Snook has stepped up to be point person. Please shoot her an e-mail at d.a.snook@att.net with your private e-mail addresses. Thanks Debbi!

ALSO ... We have a good group of people helping with mobilization efforts, but we could use more volunteers. We have lots of work to do. Please see me an e-mail if you are willing to help out. — Harlan

DEAR GUILD MEMBERS
Oct. 31, 2008

Before the informational picket last night, I thought the event would be a moment that would define who we are. The question has been: are we going to do the easy thing or the right thing?

I was proud to see so many of you come out to support each other. I'm told we had more than 100. We had supporters from the clergy and other unions. And we had lots of kids and spouses to remind us this is about the well-being of people and families.

Hats off to you all. — Harlan

More than 100 people, most of them Guild members, joined together for informational picketing in front of The Plain Dealer on Thursday evening (10/30).

The orderly protesters carried signs as they marched back and forth in front of the building at 1801 Superior Ave. E.

The show of solidarity was to express our displeasure and raise public awareness about the PD's disparate treatment of union employees compared to its non-union and managerial employees.

The non-union employees were recently offered a buyout package that included generous health care coverage. Our people are only being offered severance pay — something that is already guaranteed in our contract in the event of a layoff. The PD has refused to offer ANY health care with the Guild buyout package.

The Guild feels this is both unfair and anti-union. Especially since in a buyout our members give up unemployment compensation and a contractual right to potential rehire.

These are difficult times for both the newspaper industry and the economy. But the PD has said it is still making a profit.

It makes no sense to get rid of news people who are integral to producing your product. If you are going to cut those jobs, at least do it in a non-discriminatory way.

The measure of a company is not how it treats its employees when times are good, but how it takes care of them when times are tough. The Plain Dealer has chosen to discriminate between its employees, and do no more than the minimum mandated by contract for its Guild employees. Since a buyout without health care is no incentive to leave, this is nothing more than a voluntary layoffs program. — Rollie Dreussi, Executive Secretary Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild-CWA, Local 1

Job and family services, department of unemployment compensation Web site • Cobra health insurance Web site

Contract
The 2002 reopener
The 2004 extension
Wage scales
On-Line Memorandum of Agreement

From Joan Mazzolini: I asked our health consultant to write up a little info on a change we made today that I had mentioned at a couple of the meetings.

It is this:

We have a new eligibility rule pertaining to spouse coverage. If your spouse works, they will need to pay careful attention to the medical benefits available to them at their place of employment. Here is the new rule in plain English:

A spouse with access to affordable health insurance at their job who stays covered under the Guild Health Care Fund will have to pay at least $327 per month to stay covered under the Guild Health Care Fund.

For the 2009 benefit year, "affordable" is defined as health insurance costing $150 a month or less.

If your spouse works elsewhere and has access to health insurance costing $150 per month or less at their place of employment, they should enroll for medical coverage with their employer. This rule does not apply to spouses who are not working or who have access to health insurance costing more than $150 per month.

More information will be provided soon. Our open enrollment will be November 10 through 25. If you are married, make sure your spouse looks closely at the benefits offered through their employer.

It is important that everyone looks into the health insurance issue now because most companies' open enrollments are happening right now.

PLAIN DEALER GUILD OFFICERS

Chairperson: Harlan Spector
Vice Chairperson: Karen Long
Secretary-Treasurer: Gayle Powell

Executive Board delegates:

David Briggs
Tony Brown
Rachel Dissell
John Gruner
Mike Heaton
Ellen Kleinerman
Karen Long
Maggie Martin
Mike O'Malley
Gayle Powell
Mark Rapp
Ron Rutti
Debbi Snook
Harlan Spector
Scott Stephens

Executive Board alternates:

Leila Atassi
Fran Henry
Felicia McDonald
Merlene Santiago
Michael Scott
Brie Zeltner