- Company Claims Talks are at Impasse, Presents 'Final' Offer That Could Export Dozens of Newsroom Jobs - after Taking Millions in Tax Breaks for Job Retention
- Newspaper Guild to File Charges, Demand Time Inc. Return to Bargaining
After months of negotiations between the Newspaper Guild and Time Inc. (NYSE: TIME) on a new contract for more than 200 newsroom employees, talks broke down on Wednesday as management claimed they were at impasse after delivering a "last, best, and final" offer that would enable the company to send dozens of editorial jobs overseas, further consolidate editorial functions across its magazines and end healthcare benefits for retirees.
"Time Inc.'s proposal to hollow out its own company is simply not acceptable. Management wants the ability to send 160 editorial jobs overseas, which would be a massive blow to some of the nation's most important and respected magazines," said Newspaper Guild of New York President Bill O'Meara. "Many of Time Inc.'s proposals are not only outrageous, we believe they're illegal. We are filing charges over these labor law violations to force management to return to the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith."
At Wednesday's bargaining session, Time Inc. management representatives insisted that if Guild negotiators did not unanimously recommend that members approve their "final" package, the company would consider its offer to have been rejected, and talks would be at an impasse. Guild negotiators said they would review the management proposal, but Time Inc.'s lead negotiator nevertheless replied that the talks were at a legal impasse, which the Guild disputes.
Time Inc.'s outsourcing proposals come despite securing $10 million in state taxpayer subsidies for relocating its offices to Lower Manhattan and keeping jobs in the city. Tax breaks notwithstanding, the company foreshadowed its intention to move jobs out of the city, and the country, in an Aug. 5 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that said it would drive operational efficiencies through "global sourcing of staff."
The outsourcing proposal is the latest in a series of moves Time Inc. management has taken that threaten to undermine the journalistic integrity of its products. Sports Illustrated, one of Time Inc.'s magazines, evaluated SI.com writers on how friendly their work was to advertisers during a round of layoffs, one of several the company has had in recent years. Time Inc., which was spun off from its parent company, Time Warner Inc., on June 6 with more than $1.3 billion in debt, has warned that more layoffs are coming across its portfolio of magazines.
Besides Sports Illustrated , the Guild represents print, photo and video journalists, as well as other newsroom employees, at Fortune, Money, People and Time magazines.
