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NMG-AP Bulletin No. 30: Tentative agreement reached on sick leave
23 Jan 2009
The News Media Guild and The Associated Press reached tentative agreement Wednesday on a new sick leave policy. The text is linked below.
EU-TU Sick Leave, Article 26, Tentative Agreement
Members are reminded that “tentative" agreements are just that – they are contingent upon total overall agreement that is then submitted to the membership for a vote.
The tentative agreement on sick leave contains many changes, the majority of which are enhancements or protections of long-established benefits – such as a minimum of eight weeks’ sick leave for new mothers.
Under the new policy, which would go into effect on Oct. 1, 2009, all employees would get 12 days of sick leave each year. AP had initially proposed 10.
In addition, employees with 15 to 20 years of service could receive 14 weeks at full pay and 11 weeks at 60 percent, which would bring the total to 23 weeks of pay. An 18-year employee now gets 18 weeks at full pay plus 18 at half pay, so the new language represents a reduced benefit for that person.
Also, current employees with 20 or more years of service as of Dec. 1, 2008, will receive one week of full pay for every year of service. A current employee with 20 years’ service would receive 20 weeks at full pay and five at 60 percent and a 30-year employee would get 30 weeks of full pay.
The negotiators considered the AP proposal because overall, it is still better than other TNG contracts and because it greatly improves benefits for newer staffers – a change the Guild had sought.
Our current contract provides two weeks’ sick leave during the first two years of employment. Under the new proposal, those employees will receive the 12 days, plus an additional week at full pay and 24 weeks at 60 percent, totaling 15.4 weeks of pay.
The Guild cannot prevent AP from hiring a third-party administrator, even under the old contract (which it did do in the mid-90s). The AP is not lawfully required to negotiate the subject of a TPA. Despite this, the tentative agreement does include a provision that allows the union to challenge any arbitrary and capricious decisions in the usual grievance and arbitration procedure.
Other improvements from the AP’s initial proposal include:
• a 90-day window for recurring illnesses, compared to the 60 days the AP proposed. This means that many intermittent illnesses will largely come out of the STD benefit.
• AP will be unable to demand doctors’ notes until an employee calls in sick for three consecutive days.
• additional sick leave for employees with 20 or more years of service as of Dec. 1, 2008.
While the Guild fought hard for veteran staffers, the new sick leave proposal represents an improvement for the majority of the unit. The more generous benefit for new staffers is welcome because the current terms are woeful.
In other areas:
• The AP agreed to provide $70,000 in funding for a professional study with New York University to prevent career-threatening injuries to photographers and video journalists. This has been a long-sought health and safety goal of the Guild.
• The Guild agreed to let no more than 10 unpaid interns perform EA-type work across the AP, but the Guild also negotiated important safeguards for Editorial Assistants. The agreement specifies that work now performed by EAs cannot be eliminated, nor can EAs be replaced by interns. In addition, the interns must be enrolled full-time at an accredited U.S. university or college. They would work 16 hours per week under specific assignments with mentors.
• Agreement was also reached on Advancement Opportunities. AP agreed to electronically post all employment opportunities and agreed that no employee will be penalized for refusing to accept a promotion unless it’s the only available job for the employee in a staff reduction. In that case, the employee can accept the job or take severance pay. The text is linked below.
EU Advancement Opportunities, Article 10, Tentative Agreement
Talks will resume the week of Feb. 2.