The union representing newsroom employees at the Herald-Leader says it should come as no surprise to management that the employees who make their living informing the public about community issues would make public their concerns after an 11 month negotiation has failed to produce a new contract.
"The company is saying it's at its final offer now. When a company starts doing that it pushes our back up against the wall," said Brandon Ortiz, president of the Communication Workers of America local 33229 and a courts reporter for the Herald-Leader.
"Well, that's really surprising to me because I thought we were very close to settlement," said James R. Green, vice president for human resources at the Herald-Leader, who serves as one of management's chief negotiators. Green is a former local guild president who in earlier times as a newsroom employee bargained from the other side of the table.
Indeed, according to Ortiz, the two sides are closer than they had been when negotiations began in February for the contract that expired on New Year's Day. But two major sticking points and an Oct. 24 offer from management titled "Final Comprehensive Settlement Proposal have raised enough concern to the guild that the union's leaders have decided to go public "to try to shame the company into doing the right thing