January 27, 2023
The News Media Guild met with The Associated Press on Tuesday, to resume discussions on the Editorial Unit contract.
The guild proposed all employees to receive 4 weeks of vacation from date of hire. The guild reiterated objections to converting personal days and birthday to vacation days, and making them subject to vacation scheduling requirements. The guild also objected to the proposed requirement to use 14 days or 75% of carryover days, whichever is greater, each year.
The AP rejected giving 4 weeks vacation from Day 1, pointing to their proposal to increase to two weeks prorated in 1st year and saying it has made “a generous proposal.” The guild said it would review and respond.
On the personal days and birthday, the AP said it wanted to stick with it’s proposal to convert them to vacation days but would allow 3 days to be carried over into December for last-minute use. If unused, they would be subject to carryover rules the next year. On the use of carryover days, the company offered to change it’s proposal to requiring employees to use 75% of carryover days or 21 days, whichever is less.
The guild proposed eliminating the News Associates position as people have said it is no longer needed and the job dynamic has changed since it was created. The AP said it would need time to review it.
On outside work, responding to the Guild’s proposal to require a response in 10 days because of possible timeliness concerns, the AP agreed to acknowledge receipt of the request in 3 days and provide an answer within 10 days, unless they needed more time and timeliness was not an issue.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 31, to discuss the Social Media Policy.
The guild was represented by Vin Cherwoo, a sports writer from New York; John Braunreiter, a customer support specialist from Milwaukee; Kim Kruesi, a newsperson from Nashville, Tenn.; Bobby Calvan, a newsperson from New York; and administrator Kevin Keane.
The AP was represented by: Teresita Seeberger, senior director of global human resources; Keisa Caesar, human resources manager; David Scott, vice president of news strategy and operations; and attorney Patrick Collins.