Negotiations Focus
on Non-Guild Workers

Staffing, and the who, what, when, where, why and how of it, continues to be the focus of negotiations between the Guild and Buffalo News management.

The Guild's presentation in February showed how the reduction in newsroom employees has coincided with the increased use of stringers and free lancers. The Guild contends stringers, in some cases, are invading the jurisdiction of union members.

"Basically we showed how stringers are doing the same type of work as staff reporters," said Phil Fairbanks, chairperson of the Freelance Committee.

"The contract prohibits The News from allowing stringers to do the kind of work normally and presently performed by staff members," said the Guild's chief negotiator Marian Needham. "The paper's increasing reliance on free lancers, especially for local news coverage, violates the contract."

If the issue cannot be resolved, the union will take it to arbitration, Guild negotiators told The News. Preparations are under way for workplace and community strategies to call attention to the staffing and free lance issue, Fairbanks said.

Major developments on the stringer issue:

• The Guild files two grievances in April 1996, claiming the stringers are undertaking Guild work and that 16 stringers actually should be considered employees. The Guild looks to criteria established by the National Labor Relations Board, such as the company's reliance on the stringer and the amount of company support given to the free lancer.

• Earlier in February, union negotiators give a major presentation to management on the use of stringers and staffing, showing The News is understaffed by at least 30 percent compared to similar newspapers.

• The company says it will make stringers sign contracts.

• The Guild threatens to file a "status quo" grievance that would prohibit the company from changing any of the working conditions affecting the stringers.

• Management decides it will present contracts to all but the 16 stringers the Guild contends are employees, and will not change the work conditions of any of the stringers.

"Stringers, particularly those in outer counties, are, under the law, working as employees, not independent contractors," Fairbanks said.

Some of the other outstanding negotiating issues include family leave, extended sick leave and economics, including wages, pension and the Flex plan.

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