The tentative deal between New York Times employees and management will satisfy several of the union’s biggest demands, according to the Newspaper Guild of New York.
Both sides announced that they had reached a “tentative” and “conceptual” five-year contract for Guild members. The settlement, reached twenty months after the last contract expired, was brokered in mediation with the aid of well-known mediator Martin Scheinman.
If ratified by employees, the contract will preserve the structure of the current pension plan, which the company had wanted to freeze. Guild members will also be able to keep their independent health insurance and be eligible for incentive bonuses. The contract will also cover both print and digital employees.
The deal “preserves core benefits management had targeted for elimination and will leave Guild-represented employees better compensated than they are now,” the Guild’s memo read.
Key provisions include: a one-time bonus of 3 percent of the preceding year’s gross pay; wage increases of 2 percent annually starting in 2013; eligibility for annual incentive bonuses; preservation of a defined benefit pension plan; continuation of the Guild-Times Benefits Fund for health care; and increased dental coverage. The contract runs through March 30, 2016.
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