By Ralph Ciprianofor BigTrial.net
The union that represents nearly 400 employees at The Philadelphia Inquirer, including editors, reporters, photographers and sales reps, has declared that they have no confidence in the leadership of Publisher and Chief Executive Terrance C.Z. "Terry" Egger.
In a letter sent today by email and certified mail, the executive board of the NewsGuild accused Egger of "insecure dealing and flat-out lying," as well as "continued indifference to the economic pain of our membership."
"Egger has, quite simply, lost the confidence of our members," the executive board wrote the publisher and board members of Philadelphia Media Network, the parent company of the Inquirer, Daily News and philly.com. "We are hurting, and we are angry."
Egger, who last November, was named Editor & Publisher's Publisher of the year, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At the Inquirer, where newsroom employees have gone without a raise for more than a decade, they are also smarting over the company's decision to stop making contributions to the Guild's pension fund.
Note to Egger: expect job actions to follow.
"Our members are not just just the 'content providers' of this organization," the Guild wrote. " We are its heard and we are its future. We are hurting and we are angry."
Last November, the Guild says, they met with publisher Egger after negotiating a wage re-opener at their last contract. Egger asked the Guild for a delay until December. "Again we met in good faith," the Guild wrote. "our proposal was a 5 percent increase. Most of our members have not received a contract raise in 11 years.
"In that time, the cost of living has gone up year by year -- 2.6 percent since 2016," the Guild wrote. "With no raises to offset those rising costs our members are struggling to pay bills, including such essentials as childcare. Some are working multiple jobs in an effort to make ends meet."
"Despite what seemed like a sincere assurance by Egger at that wage re-opener meeting in November that he would look to secure money for a modest raise, saying he needed time to find money for ALL employees, he sat across from us at our Jan. 4 meeting and said he was offering nothing."
Last December, "Egger panicked employees by sending out a pre-Christmas memo to the entire staff about a possible strike by the Teamsters and the damage that would cause," the Guild wrote.
Then, the company settled with the Teamsters with a new contract offering signing bonuses of $1,00 each, plus donating money to the Teamsters pension plan and a $700,000 donation for a "vague expense fund" benefitting the Teamsters, the Guild wrote.
The NewGuild has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, saying the company lied when it told the Guild back in 2015 that it was getting out of the pension business. When the company went bankrupt, it also defaulted on a $50 million final payment due the pension fund. Then the NewsGuild found out this year that the company was secretly funding the Teamsters' pension fund to the tune of a few million.
Another problem for the Guild: while Guild members have to make contributions for their health benefits, the Teamsters don't.
"Egger's dishonesty about wanting more time to find money for all employees, combined with the company's secret pension since 2015 for the Teamsters, was the NewsGuild's reward for working with this company over the past several years, enduring pay cuts and furloughs, and even helping Egger sell the new advertising and newsroom restructurings to our members. In light of this pattern of insincere dealign and salt-out lying to the NewsGuild, and his [Egger's] continued indifference to he economic pain our of our membership, Egger has, quite simply, lost the confidence of our members."
"We have fallen way behind," the Guild wrote. "We've lost good talent in recent months and know other employees are considering leaving because they don't want to or simply can't afford to work for a company that doesn't adequately reward its employees.
Among recent departures was Inquirer staff writer Holly Otterbein, who left for Politico.
"Our members are outraged, insulted and determined to fight for our basic rights to a decent wage. We have seen our pension fund gutted and the company lie about being out of the pension business when, as the Teamster deal proves, it is not. We are demanding a simple across-the-board pay increase for our members, who have seen nothing but givebacks and furloughs for more than a decade."
