PROVIDENCE – The Providence Newspaper Guild, the Providence Journal’s largest union, approved a three-year contract that includes a pay freeze and increases to the cost of its health insurance plan in a 147-50 vote split on Wednesday afternoon.
The contract affects the newspaper’s 250 union members. A tentative agreement was reached on Jan. 31. Voting took place from noon to 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Guild office and there was an about 80 percent turnout, a spokeswoman confirmed.
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“You don’t have to look at the empty desks in your work areas, or walk past the third floor offices full of file boxes instead of people to be reminded of how many of our friends were laid off in 2008 to 2009,” the guild said in a Feb. 11 letter 11 urging its members to approve the contract.
“Guild locals throughout New England have been negotiating in a preservation rather than advancement mode. This tentative agreement follows that trend, but unlike most other New England locals, where pay cuts of 5, 10 or 13 percent have been the rule, we ‘achieved’ a pay freeze,” it added.
The new plan, to take effect on April 1, outlines a pay freeze for the guild members until the other A.H. Belo employees achieve a 2.5 percent pay increase, returning to the same salary level as 2009 when their salaries were cut by that amount.
Among the many changes in the health care insurance costs, the weekly premium contribution will increase to 20 percent from 15 percent and outlines a deductible of $100 for singles and $200 for family. For a PDF file of the “contract explainer,” click here.
A.H. Belo Corp., the parent company of the Providence Journal, will release its fourth quarter and full-year results on Feb. 22.
