PRESIDENT'S NOTEBOOK

By PHIL FAIRBANKS

There's an old cliché that's popular among Guild activists: No good deed goes unpunished.

How else can you explain The Buffalo News' decision to file a grievance against the Guild for the first time in memory, maybe ever.

At stake is about $112,000 in dues or $320 per member.

When I took office in February, one of my first priorities was to settle a long-standing dispute with the company, an overdue bill from the last round of contract bargaining.

The bill, which The News estimates at $112,000 but is actually much less, reflects the amount of paid time Guild leaders spent away from their regular jobs during 17 months of negotiations. The Guild has a long-standing practice of reimbursing the company for "lost time," the time a union representative spends on union business during his normal work period.

No one disputes the notion that the Guild owes The News money. To the contrary, that is the very reason I moved this issue to the front burner. I wanted it settled before the next round of bargaining, which begins in January.

Just two months after I took office, the Guild, at the direction of the rank-and-file membership, made a substantive offer to The News: $56,000. The offer reflects what the Guild considers its real debt to The News.

The rub is that the company's estimates are based on time sheets that don't accurately reflect the fact that many of the Guild's bargaining team members continued to do their regular jobs during negotiations.

Even managers at The News acknowledge that Jerry Sullivan often spent a day at the bargaining table only to turn around that night and write his sports column. Or that District Manager Dick Fay continued to run his district, even on those days when he was bargaining with The News.

My mistake was being reasonable and actually making an effort to settle the issue.

As I mentioned above, my good deed was met with a grievance by the company. I don't know whether to be insulted or view it as a badge of honor.

Let's hope The News come around. This is no way to begin a new round of bargaining.