From: Ferrick, Tom
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 11:45 AM
To: Ferrick, Tom
Subject: To Inquirer Guild members
As you know, the Guild reached tentative agreement with the company last night on a new contract. To summarize: it is a shit sandwich. The full details will be discussed at tonight’s meeting. But, I know that
people in this room are interested in the new language re reduction in force. The current language bases RIF’s on seniority, with some enumerated exceptions. The new language maintains seniority, but expands the enumerated exceptions to additional beats:There are 21 beats enumerated, some filled by several people (Example: City Hall Bureau reporters.) These were beats identified as “core beats” to the paper by the editors across the bargaining table. However, the TA on RIF’s also includes bumping rights that say, in so many words, that if you held one of these beats in the past and you have higher seniority than the current occupant of that beat, you have the right to bump the junior incumbent in that position with the approval of the editor. Attached is the exact language of the proposed change. Keep in mind this is tentative. All the provisions must be approved by the members at ratification.
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