The PD Guild's "survival kit" from its executive secretary

Rather than further parsing the  comments from  Plain Dealer sources , I've decided to share with you the precise letter from the Guild's executive secretary to its members in this Week from Hell at the paper:

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To all Plain Dealer Guild bargaining unit employees:

A number of our members have received offers for jobs to go to work for cleveland.com. Our hope is that you will remain employees in the Guild bargaining unit at The Plain Dealer.

My advice to you is to think long and hard about what leaving will mean for you.

You will give up a number of important protections if you leave the PD Guild bargaining unit.

• No job security. Except for five more people to be laid off 1/1/15, if you are still a PD employee today you have, by name, a job until 2019, as long as the PD publishes at least one edition a week.

• You will no longer have a democratic workplace.

• No guarantee of an eight-hour day.

• No guarantee of 5-day/40-hour week.

• No guarantee of daily overtime, or a minimum amount of overtime for work on your day off.

• No more just cause for discipline, or a grievance/arbitration procedure with a collective bargaining representative.

• Sick pay (at two weeks per year of service) up to a max of 52 weeks.

• Vacation (up to four weeks) and a vacation bonus.

And many other protections afforded under the Guild's contract with The Plain Dealer.

Also, remember who you're dealing with here. These job offers were supposed to come BEFORE the layoffs. So ask them if they'll put what they are offering you in writing.

Remember that if you do not have the protection of a contract, Ohio is an employment at will state. That means you can quit anytime you want, and they can fire you anytime they want. 

The decision is up to each of you. But make sure you consider well what you will be giving up.

 

Rollie Dreussi
Executive Secretary
Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild-CWA, Local 1
216-661-6144 or 1-800-621-6202