Hundreds of employees at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch are protesting recent management attempts to circumvent the Guild contract by establishing non-union subsidiaries to perform union work. Affected are circulation department and online employees.

Establishing STL Today as an online subsidiary, the Pulitzer-owned company claimed the new venture is separate from the former Postnet.com web site, which included union sales and editorial staffing. STL Todays non-union employees are doing essentially the same work that had been done by Guild-represented employees of Postnet.com.

Pulitzer also established STL Distribution by combining several smaller subsidiaries into a larger distribution company, which then took over Post-Dispatch routes. Job protection language in the contract prevents the company from firing most of its district managers, but as one such manager was told, DMs have a job, but they no longer have a position. Instead, most are used to do a variety of chores and fill-in duties as management sees fit to assign.

The St. Louis Newspaper Guild has been hampered by contract language that allows the company to outsource work, but the local argues that the language was never intended to give the company the right to displace entire departments or parts of departments in the bargaining unit.

In addition to the outsourcing, Pulitzers advertising department recently imposed a new commission plan for some of its sales representatives. Rather than a straight commission based on a percentage of sales, the new plan is more along the lines of a bonus based on attaining certain sales quotas.

The local, with assistance from TNG-CWA and legal services, has responded on several levels. Grievances have been filed regarding both the outsourcing and the commission issues and are being submitted for arbitration, although the company has arbitrarily divided one of the complaints and submitting it as two grievances. The Guild is fighting the company's attempt to rewrite a Guild grievance.

The local also has taken more direct action, distributing buttons and armbands that protest the new commission plan and call for Fair Pay for Commission Sales Representatives. It also has buttons and black t-shirts proclaiming, Stop Outsourcing Our Work Now. The backs of the t-shirts bear the message, Is Your Job Next?

Since early August, members of the local have been wearing the protest paraphernalia each Thursday. On Sept. 5, some 250 members attended a lunchtime rally in front of the Post-Dispatch building that featured pizza and soft drinks. Post-Dispatch employees have provided strong support for their co-workers, realizing that if the company can take this work away, other Guild-covered work also may be reassigned.

The local also is looking at broadening its educational campaign to include the larger St. Louis labor community and beyond.