Union Alleges Projo is Violating RI Labor Laws, Company Attempts to Avoid Paying Sunday Overtime
Saturday, May 11, 2019
The Teamsters Local 251 is alleging that the Providence Journal’s parent company has a long track record of labor law violations and is now working to avoid paying basic Rhode Island labor laws.
GateHouse Media, the owner of the Providence Journal, has asked the state of Rhode Island for an exemption on Sunday and holiday overtime requirements, according to the Teamsters Local 251.
GateHouse is suffering through falling advertising revenue and plunging circulation — the daily circulation of the Providence Journal is now report to be just 38,000 for weekday circulation.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Gatehouse had flaunted state wage laws for four years, and the filing is another egregious attempt to milk more money from its workers. Teamsters Local 251 adamantly opposes this request,” said the Teamsters in a statement.
Labor Contention
According to the Teamsters Local 251, “(We have) been in negotiations with Gatehouse Media for a successor collective bargaining agreement since September 2018. The company has yet to agree to any wage increases for the job classifications represented by the union; these include mailers, inserters and machine maintenance employees who work at the company’s Kinsley Street plant in Providence.”
While GateHouse is playing hardball with local labor, the company’s executives continue to receive top-tier compensation.
As GoLocal reported in April, the CEO of GateHouse media received a compensation package of $1.7 million for the year. Kirk Davis, who oversees hundreds of newspapers across the country including the Providence Journal, Worcester Telegram, Newport Daily News, and the Fall River Herald to name a few, received his standard base salary of $550,000, but was also awarded a massive cash bonus and even larger stock bonus.
“After considering a variety of factors, including but not limited to Mr. Davis’ level of responsibility, the Company’s financial and operational performance, and other cultural factors specific to the Company’s philosophy and mission, in February 2019 the Compensation Committee approved and recommended to the Board, which subsequently approved, a cash bonus of $400,000 to Mr. Davis for 2018 performance,” according to the companies filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
Teamsters Say Labor Violations Have Been Going on for Years
According to the Teamsters, the Providence Journal and its parent company have had a history of violations.
“During the course of negotiations, Teamsters Local 251 learned that Gatehouse was in violation of Rhode Island wage and hour laws on overtime pay for work on Sundays and Rhode Island legal holidays. The union demanded that Gatehouse immediately correct the violation and make the workers whole. Initially, the company claimed it had an exemption from the overtime requirement, and they were not obligated to pay the lost overtime wages,” said the Teamster’s statement.
“The Teamsters pressed the company for a copy of the alleged exemption. In the face of the union pressure, the company relented and paid out almost $200,000 in back pay to current and former employees. These payments were retroactive three years from the date the union demanded the back pay award. The company refuses to pay such lost wages back to September 2014 when Gatehouse took over the Providence Journal. According to Gatehouse Media management: “The law only requires us to pay these lost wages retroactive to three years from the date of any wage complaint,” said the Teamsters.
Gatehouse’s Continued Assault on Middle-Class Jobs
The Providence Guild -- which represents primarily reporters and other newsroom related functions -- has also had ongoing labor disputes.
During the course of the past decade, the Providence Journal's newsroom has decreased from 120 to now employing about 15 reporters.
"Prior to Gatehouse’s acquisition of The Providence Journal, most bargaining unit employees had full-time jobs with benefits. Since 2014, Gatehouse has continued to undermine quality, middle-class jobs and replaced them with a part-time workforce. No vacant full-time jobs have been filled since Gatehouse took over. The bargaining unit consists of about 125 employees; a large majority is part-time, and Gatehouse has refused to agree to post vacant full-time jobs for bidding so that part-time employees can move into a full-time job with benefits," said the Teamsters.
The Union asserts that the company is killing middle-class jobs.
"Additionally, there is a high turnover rate among the part-timers. A majority of these employees are recent immigrants, and English is not their first language. In the face of the high turnover rate and Gatehouse’s exploitative practices, the Teamsters have initiated an ongoing internal organizing drive at the plant, to build rank and file power on the shop floor. The union has translated the collective bargaining agreement and all union notices into both Spanish and Arabic," according to the Teamsters.
"Among the bargaining demands Teamsters Local 251 has on the table is full back pay for the wage theft pocketed by the employer. Gatehouse Media has made it clear at the table that the company is profitable and it is not claiming an inability to meet the workers’ economic demands for across the board wage increases and improved benefits for part-timers," said the Teamsters.
