Members of the Newspaper Guild at the Beacon Journal will vote Friday on a tentative agreement reached with the newspaper. Guild officers and management met today to finalize the offer.
Guild president Bob Demay said details will be provided to Guild members Wednesday and Thursday and members would vote all day Friday. No details are to be released until members are informed, he said.
The Beacon Journal was asking the Guild to accept concessions that would equate to a 25 to 30 percent decrease in wages and benefits, including a 16.75 percent pay cut, a pension freeze, a larger share of health care costs and a change to sick pay that would be worse than what WalMart offers.
Chapter secretary Stephanie Warsmith said that the deal is what she calls a "concessionary contract", which she says the union was expecting.
The Guild represents about 85 reporters, copy editors, photographers, assistant editors, page designers, artists, sports statisticians, librarians and secretaries - a number slashed more than 50 percent over the past 10 years through layoffs, buyouts and attrition.
The newspaper cited poor advertising revenues in negotiations.
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