Reuters U.S. Guild Workers Reject Company Contract Proposal

Reuters U.S. Guild Workers Reject Company Contract Proposal

NEW YORK, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The Newspaper Guild of New York notified the main U.S. subsidiary of Reuters Group Plc (NASDAQ:RTRSY) on Monday that its members voted overwhelmingly to reject a contract proposed by the company's management. The two sides are now discussing a date to return to bargaining that began nearly three years ago.

More than two-thirds of Guild members at Reuters America LLC turned out at meetings held at the London-based news and information company's major U.S. centers last week to reject the proposal, as recommended by the Guild Bargaining Committee. The vote was a near unanimous 278-4, despite a last-minute propaganda blitz by company management.

"Our members resisted a concerted effort by company managers to get them to turn against one another, based on their occupation," said New York Guild President Barry Lipton. "Instead, they recognized that sticking together is the key to a stronger union and better working conditions for all in the long run."

The vote was prompted by a company challenge to Guild negotiators to put their so-called final offer to the rank and file. The package included several tentative agreements, but the two sides failed to resolve a handful of outstanding issues during intensive talks on Sept. 12-13.

Among the issues still unresolved are management proposals to deny employees medical insurance when they retire, strip technicians of existing employment assurances and when to implement a Guild proposal to upgrade inferior working conditions for employees Reuters' television operations.

Leading up to the Sept. 12-13 talks, editorial, technical and administration employees demonstrated support for the Guild Bargaining Committee with lunchtime picketing, a campaign to withhold bylines and by strictly working to rule. The Guild and its parent union, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) also placed an advertisement in the Sept. 12 edition of The New York Times that called attention to Reuters practice of sending U.S.-based editorial work to lower wage countries.

The Guild, Local 31003 of the CWA, represents nearly 450 print, television and still picture journalists, technicians and other employees at Reuters.

Source: Newspaper Guild of New York

CONTACT: Barry Lipton, 212-575-1580, of Newspaper Guild of New York

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