The News Media Guild agreement with The Associated Press is a living document negotiated by the union and the company to set work terms and conditions. It is like a constitution which outlines our rights and obligations and sets procedures. It is the ultimate authority in AP's relationship with employees represented by this union.
The contract details rights of the company and the employees -- including wages and overtime, holidays, vacations, sick leave, advancement opportunities and health care and retirement benefits. The contract outlines AP's minimum responsibilities to Guild-covered employees, who can negotiate better terms for themselves.
This contract is the result of many years of dedicated service by countless AP Guild members and suggestions and requests from many others. In addition to negotiated wage increases, since 1980 the Guild has negotiated the following contract improvements and many others.
PARENTAL LEAVE
JAN 81-DEC 82 - Gives women a minimum of four weeks' disability pay for pregnancy or childbirth. Adds paid paternity leave of up to three days.
DEC 85-NOV 86 - Increases paid paternity leave to five days.
DEC 88-NOV 90 - Extends same benefits to adoptive parents.
DEC 90-DEC 92 - Adds a minimum benefit of eight weeks of sick leave at full pay upon the birth of a child, in addition to employees' regular sick leave.
DEC 92-NOV 94 - Extends maximum unpaid parental leave from 12 months to 18 months.
SICK LEAVE
JAN 81-DEC 82 - Gives women a minimum of four weeks' disability pay for pregnancy or childbirth.
DEC 86-NOV 88 - Increases sick leave for employees with under two years’ service to two weeks.
DEC 90-DEC 92 - Adds a minimum benefit of eight weeks of sick leave at full pay upon the birth of a child, in addition to an employee's regular sick leave.
DEC 92-NOV 94 - Gives staffers who exhaust sick leave and meet disability plan requirements 60 percent salary, to $30,000 a year, minus Social Security or workers' comp benefits.
DEC 02-NOV 05 - Increases maximum paid for long-term disability to $45,000/year, $75,000 total.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
JAN 81-DEC 82 - Adds provisions on safe noise and lighting and regular maintenance of equipment; bars requiring employees to repair equipment.
DEC 88-NOV 90 - Provides for reasonable rest breaks for employees working on computers.
DEC 90-DEC 92 - Establishes a program to provide a Repetitive Strain Injury-free workplace.
DEC 92-NOV 94 - Requires AP to ensure safe passage on streets and other areas near the bureau.
JAN 97-NOV 99 - Requires AP to regularly schedule seminars on Repetitive Strain Injury and ergonomics, using trained instructors.
DEC 99–NOV 02 - Makes attendance at RSI training mandatory and requires AP to address concerns on job-related injuries from carrying heavy equipment.
DEC 02-NOV 05 - Requires AP to help staffers desiring ergonomic equipment, now including photo and video equipment and accessories to carry or move it. Calls for annual training.
DEC 05-NOV 08 - Requires AP to fund a photographers’ injury study by a major safety institution.
EVALUATIONS
JAN 81-DEC 82 - Requires giving copies of material placed in personnel files, including performance appraisals, to employees, who are guaranteed the right to respond.
JUN 83-NOV 85 - Requires giving job evaluations to non-editorial employees, too.
DEC 05-NOV 08 - Requires an evaluation once annually.
JOB SECURITY
DEC 90-DEC 92 - Requires AP to provide up to six months of training for employees whose jobs are eliminated by automation and who AP says are not qualified for other existing jobs. Gives employees resigning due to automation up to $4,000 for training in other work, plus dismissal pay.
DEC 92-NOV 94 - Prohibits hiring photo assistants to replace editors or photographers.
DEC 03-NOV 05 - Bars AP from using its electronic systems to monitor employee productivity or use the systems as time clocks.
DEC 05-NOV 08 - Bars discharge or other discipline because of an employee’s inability to perform new work for which they have not been trained. Removes many onerous provisions of AP’s proposed ethics policy, allowing employees to participate in civic, charitable, religious, public, social or residential organizations and limiting the financial holding policy to employees who regularly cover a business sector. Protects employees’ outside rights as long as that work does not interfere with their job.
EXPERIENCE RATING
DEC 88-NOV 90 - Requires considering experience in regular part-time work elsewhere when establishing new employees' starting pay.
FEES/NEW JOBS
JUN 83-NOV 85 - Increases Wide World Photo sales staff commissions by 10%.
DEC 92-NOV 94 - Extends anchor fees for broadcast of more than 30 minutes to "co-anchor." Increases top-scale librarians' wages increase 18 percent over two years.
JAN 97-NOV 99 - Makes AP negotiate fees with Guild for “new, distinct” products it creates.
DEC 02-NOV 05 - Bumps up top pay scale for News and Information researchers by $371.
DEC 05-NOV 08 - Creates up to 30 new Senior Journalist positions, paying twice top-scale salary but with no overtime, differentials or scheduling rights. Provides the same vacation, holidays and other contract benefits. The company must give reasonable time off. Starts revenue-sharing system that lets photographers use company equipment while not on duty to shoot stock images, and gives them 35 percent of gross sales. Creates new Multimedia Specialist job, paying 15 percent above wage minima.
DIFFERENTIALS
JUN 83-NOV 85 - More than doubles night, overnight, and Sunday differentials.
DEC 85-NOV 86 - Gives staffers who work two overnight shifts per week full weekly differential.
DEC 92-NOV 99 - Increases night, Sunday and overnight differentials.
DEC 99-NOV 02 - Creates new “Supervisory Differential” of $30 a week for at least 100 employees a month; raises all shift differentials by 10 percent.
DEC 02-NOV 08 - Raises night, overnight, Sunday differentials by 2.7 percent, and weekly supervisory differential to $35 and minimum number of employees who get it to 130.
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION
JUN 83-NOV 85 - AP agrees to pay $2 million to settle a sex and race discrimination suit pending since 1972. The settlement provides: $1 million in back pay to women and blacks employed 1972-1983; money to train women for promotions; hiring and promotion goals for blacks, women and Hispanics, plus expanded job-posting obligations.
DEC 92-NOV 94 - Adds language to comply with The Americans With Disabilities Act.
JAN 97-NOV 99 - Gives Guild the right to arbitrate assignments or demotions due to discrimination over age, sex, race, creed, nationality, disability, union activity, or veteran status.
DEC 02-NOV 05 - Prohibits discrimination because of sexual orientation. Lets employees borrow vacation from next year’s accrual to care for sick domestic partner.
TIME OFF
JUN 83-NOV 94 - Cuts eligibility for four weeks' vacation from eight years of service to five, and for five weeks of vacation from 30 to 25 years.
DEC 86-NOV 88 - Gives employees one more personal day.
DEC 94-NOV 96 - Makes AP reimburse non-refundable deposits if vacations are cancelled by AP.
DEC 99-NOV 02 - Adds Martin Luther King Day as holiday.
DEC 02-NOV 05 - Recognizes seniority preference for vacations scheduled prior to March 31. Requires management to promptly approve or reject employee vacation selections and post updated vacation schedules so employees know what is remaining.
DEC 05-NOV 08 - Cuts eligibility for five weeks’ vacation from 25 to 20 years.
WORK SCHEDULES
JAN 81-DEC 82 - Requires posting work schedules at least 16 days in advance; raises penalty pay for changes in posted schedule.
JUN 83-NOV 85 - Bars scheduling employees to work more than seven consecutive days, down from 10 days. Allows employees to refuse a summons to work on their day off.
JOB-SHARING AND FOUR-DAY WORK WEEK
DEC 85-NOV 86 - Establishes experiments in job-sharing and the four-day workweek.
DEC 99-NOV 02 - Requires AP or employee to give six weeks’ notice to revoke a job share deal.
JOB POSTINGS
JUN 83-NOV 85 - Requires posting of available jobs in Guild jurisdiction, as well as management jobs.
JAN 97-DEC 99 - Requires posting generalist and specialist national writer jobs.
LEAVES OF ABSENCE
JAN 81-DEC 82 - Adds leave to help family members needing assistance, automatic leaves for eight journalism fellowships (expanded to 12 in the 1990s).
JUN 83-NOV 85 - Institutes sabbatical leaves for employees with 10 years of service.
DEC 94-NOV 96 - Extends compassionate leaves to in-laws.
HEALTH INSURANCE
JUN 83-NOV 85 - Boost employer contributions to health insurance premiums to 90% for individuals, 80% for two-person or family coverage. Adds benefit for eye exams or glasses.
DEC 85-NOV 86 - Establishes reserve fund for health insurance claims that helped offset health insurance increases for employees until 1990, when the fund was exhausted.
DEC 88-NOV 90 - Adds $750 orthodontic benefit, 100% payment on Pap tests and mammograms.
DEC 90-DEC 92 - Shifts health insurance premium payments to pre-tax basis; starts prescription plan; adds $250 payment for smoking cessation assistance.
DEC 94-NOV 96 - Allows rolling annual $100 optical care benefit over to the next year.
JAN 97-NOV 99 - Boosts lifetime cap on mental health and substance abuse benefits to $60,000.
DEC 99–NOV 02 - Cuts staffer’s share of two-person or family insurance premium from 20 to 15%.
DEC 02-NOV 05 - Caps health/dental insurance increases at 10 percent. Extends well-care, including annual physicals, for a $20 co-pay. Provides $200 a year for eye exams, glasses or contact lenses, which can be carried for 3 years to a $600 maximum. Ends annual deductibles for employees in out-of-network areas, except for well care and hospitalizations. Covers same-sex partners precluded by law from marrying.
DEC 05-NOV 08 - Caps increases on “Buy-Up” health plan at 7 percent in year 1, 5 percent in year 2 and 10 percent in year 3. Adds “Core-Plan,” with reduced benefits but smaller premium hikes. Reduces yearly out-of-area maximum for out-of-pocket expenses.
PENSIONS/401(k) PROGRAM
DEC 86-NOV 88 - Cuts pension vesting period from 10 years to five; raises pension credits.
DEC 88-NOV 90 - Starts non-contributory 401(k) retirement savings plan.
DEC 90-DEC 92 - Raises retiree benefit and base used for calculating pension service credits.
DEC 94-NOV 96 - Boosts 401(k) investment options to five.
JAN 97-NOV 99 - Makes AP contribute to employees’ 401(k) accounts, at 50 cents on the dollar by the contract’s third year.
DEC 02-NOV 05 - Allows employees to change to a higher benefit from the reduced-benefit plan should his or her spouse die first. Raises company matching 401(k) contributions to 50 cents on the dollar on the first 6 percent of employee earnings.
DEC 05-NOV 08 - Bars new entrants to pension plan and allows current staff to opt out. Gives new hires and employees who opt out an AP contribution of three percent of earnings to a 401(k), whether employee contributes or not. Continues basic 401(k) plan, which matches 50 cents per dollar up to 6 percent of employee earnings contributed.
TAX ADVANTAGE BENEFITS
DEC 88-NOV 90 - Starts tax-exempt dependent care reimbursement accounts.
DEC 99-NOV 02 - Begins transportation voucher program for parking and public transportation.
EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE
DEC 88-NOV 90 - Adds confidential employee assistance program.
LIFE INSURANCE
DEC 88-NOV 90 - Requires AP to pay full premiums, ending employees’ $5-a-week contribution.
JAN 97-NOV 99 - Lets employees buy supplemental life insurance at up to three times salary and buy life insurance for spouse or children. Boosts retiree life insurance to $10,000.
SEVERANCE
JAN 81-DEC 82 - Gives up to 15 additional weeks of pay to employees terminated in staff reduction.
ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
NOV 94-DEC 96 - Sets same advancement opportunities for editorial, photo and graphics assistants as for newsperson, photographer and artist positions.
JAN 97-NOV 99 - Gives $67/week differential to head information specialist and head photo librarian.
DEC 99–NOV 02 - Requires the posting of all AP Television positions.
