GUILD ELECTS NEGOTIATORS

 DEAL MAKERS

By LOU MICHEL

 With Buffalo News' management signaling it wants labor peace, Guild negotiators say they are beginning contract talks on a positive note.

The two sides will sit down for the first time Jan. 8 with both sides promising smaller agendas and hoping to avoid the type of environment that led to a tumultuous 17 months of negotiations last time.

If they show that through their initial proposals, that is a strong signal of their commitment to have labor peace," said Jim Schaufenbil, who heads the Guild's 10-member negotiating team.

Schaufenbil says he anticipates some bumps in the road.

"One tough issue will be health care," he said, noting management has signaled "concern" over that benefit.

The News has made it clear that health care concessions will be near the top of their list of demands.

Guild negotiators say the union will fight those demands and, at the same time, make it equally clear that what their members need are pension improvements and a fair wage increase.

And if necessary, they will ask the membership to help support their demands.

"The local remains committed to membership participation and mobilization," Schaufenbil said. "Membership solidarity makes the difference at the bargaining table."

The Guild’s strong mobilization is what produced the present six-year contract, according to the lead negotiator, and it set the stage for what should be "a good exchange of ideas" in upcoming talks.

"We are going to treat each other with respect," Schaufenbil said.

Local President Phil Fairbanks expressed a similar sentiment.

"The News has sent us clear signals that it wants speedy negotiations and so do we. Having said that, we won't compromise our bargaining goals to achieve that end," Fairbanks said.

The size of the bargaining team, he said, sends a signal that the Guild is committed to solidarity.

"It's one of the biggest Guild bargaining teams in memory and reflects our desire to involve even more members in negotiations," Fairbanks said. "Our strength is as a collective body and a larger team should improve our ability to reach out and mobilize the membership."

In addition to Fairbanks and Schaufenbil, other team members are Jackie Kuma, Classified; Linda College, ABC; Bill Jerge, Customer Service; Dick Fay, District Managers; Carol Ann Burke, Inside Circulation; Henry Davis and Jim Heaney, Editorial; and Tammy Turnbull, the Buffalo Newspaper Guild's office manager.

Fay expressed hope that the negotiations will yield an increase in the number of district managers.

"I would like to see the company take a hard look at increasing the staffing levels in the district manager ranks to help us grow circulation and improve customer service," Fay said.

Heaney said he wanted to focus on bread-and-butter issues ranging from health care to salary increases.

"I see three priorities: maintaining our health insurance benefits at current levels, improving pension benefits and securing pay raises that at least keep pace with inflation. The pay increases in the present contract have not kept pace with inflation the past five years and we need to be mindful that our earning power has decreased during the course of this contract."

"The company, I'm sure, will cry poverty because their profit margins are off slightly. But we need to be mindful that The News continues to earn much larger profits than most papers," Heaney said.