Thursday, May 05, 2005

Knight Ridder Watch is new web site


A new substance abuse policy is being introduced at the Beacon Journal. You can get the details and download the policy at a great new web site called Knight Ridder Watch.


Knight Ridder Watch is a project of the Knight Ridder Council, a coalition of union locals representing employees at Knight Ridder newspapers. Council members welcome the participation of Knight Ridder employees who are not represented by unions to participate in the Council or to become part of the Council's e-mail list. Contact:: knightriddercouncil@knightridderwatch.org

You can click on the headline above to go to the site, but you also might want to save the url as a bookmark or favorite.

http://www.knightridderwatch.org/

Here is a notice from Paula Schleis to Akron Guild members:

May 4, 2005

Guild members,
We have concluded negotiations on a new drug and alcohol policy the company plans to submit. This policy is not a contractual provision, but because it does involve a change in working conditions the company is required to give us the chance to offer input.
The guild's negotiating team of Mark Davis, Kathy Antoniotti, Jim Mackinnon, Paula Schleis and Rollie Dreussi met with the company on four occasions, and we're pleased to report that the company agreed we had much to offer.

Nearly all of the guild's suggested changes were accepted. For instance, the company dropped language that would discipline an employee for merely possessing alcohol on company property, beefed up language on what constitutes the kind of "reasonable suspicion" that would prompt drug testing, and eliminated language that treated over-the-counter medication the same as prescription or illegal substances.

This policy is NOT IN EFFECT until the company gives you a copy. What is posted here is where the policy stood when guild negotiations concluded. Because the company intends the policy to be implemented building wide, they were also seeking input from other representatives.

Also note, and this is very important, that where the policy conflicts with our contract,
OUR CONTRACT TAKES PRECEDENCE.


If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Paula

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great stuff on this site. Click on or paste in:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002237194_fancher10.html

to read about the Seattle Times losing 508 years of experience in one day when 27 newsroom employees left as newspapers continue to cut back, which the Times Executive Editor called a "celebration."

Sound familiar?

I still remember the outrage and sadness that I felt several years after my retirement when I watched the Beacon Journal lose more than 400 years of experience in one day, including many of my longtime colleagues.