St. Paul Guild

Negotiators for the Newspaper Guild and Pioneer Press management agreed Wednesday to expedited talks with the aim of reaching a tentative contract by the end of October.

After Guild presentations on multimedia training and a proposal to integrate the Pioneer Press newsroom with TwinCities.com, management said it was imperative to reach a contract settlement soon.

Marshall Anstandig, vice president of labor relations for MediaNews, said that there was an “urgency” to settle the contract because of “revenue issues.” In the absence of getting an agreement, there would need to be cost-cutting, he said.

“"We'd like to get the savings that would allow us to provide some promise of job security," Anstandig said. "If we can't get those savings in a timely manner we are forced into cost-cutting positions which we don't want to be in. It would not be good for us or for you. At this stage, I don't want to give specifics. But it is in both of our both interests to get this done.”

The Guild agreed. Darren Carroll, the Guild’s lead negotiator, said the bargaining committee would make every effort to come to an agreement by the end of October.

Training

The Guild opened Wednesday’s talks with information about training grants available from the state of Minnesota.  The union has placed strong emphasis on training in its negotiations with management.

Paul Moe, director of the state’s Job Skills Training Partnership program, attended the meeting to discuss how the Pioneer Press can apply for training grants of up to $400,000. The newspaper would partner with a university or technical college to design a comprehensive multimedia training program for the newsroom and commercial departments.

“You identify what your needs are,” Moe said. “We want to work with you and get training set up in a way that helps you and your business move forward.”

Editor Thom Fladung outlined some of training now available to newsroom employees, including digital audio, photography, videography and web design.

Multimedia

The Guild also made a presentation on issues that it characterized as central to the future of the business – namely, the transition from print to digital publication and the need to integrate TwinCities.com with the core business.

The presentation, based on work and research by Meggen Lindsay, included several examples of problems directly related to the separation of TwinCities.com from the main newsroom.

The union said employees are eager to learn new skills, but want to be sure that they’re properly trained and receive opportunities to practice the skills, such as a reporters shooting video and posting it to the web.  That said, employees don’t want to be penalized for their performance of new multimedia duties.

“That is a real concern out there,” Lindsay said.

After the Guild’s presentation, the company expressed a willingness to talk more with the union about integrating the newsroom and Twincities.com.

“Clearly the whole issue of the importance of online is huge and the issues you bring up on integration are not issues we have not thought about or we have not considered,” Anstandig said. “We appreciate the manner in which you presented this and we understand the constructive goals you are seeking. They’re really our goals too.”

“Building walls frankly, at this stage, does not work,” Anstandig said. “I think that there is a lot of reason for us to engage in this topic with you and see what we can do.”

The Guild was represented by Marilyn Clements, Julie Forster, Meggen Lindsay, Dave Noble, Lance Forys, Duane Maxson, Alex Friedrich and Darren Carroll.

Management was represented by Marshall Anstandig, Marc Chrismer, Thom Fladung and Barb Cartalucca.

-- Julie Forster