(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The state of Daily Kos Guild-Daily Kos Management negotiations as of Feb. 1 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-01 DKG’s caucus and negotiations between the parties focused on bringing each side closer to an agreement that we can implement quickly and with minimal harm to our employees and the operations of Daily Kos. In the spirit of transparency, we would like to explain what has been proposed and where we now stand. The initial severance package proposed by DKM We will begin with sharing DKM’s initial proposed severance offer for laid-off employees. Keep in mind that this was presented to the staff of Daily Kos as the only option, with no effort ahead of the time it was announced to engage with DKG over the terms or any options for less-draconian staff cuts. This is their offer as outlined Jan. 12. 6 weeks base pay 1 week pay per year of service 1 month of health care reimbursement (rather than continuation of the benefit) PTO accrued through 12/22/22 1 month of outplacement services in support of job transition, re-placement support, and worklife coaching Option to keep Apple laptop computers supplied by DKM Kos Media will not dispute any claims for unemployment insurance DKG’s proposal To avert involuntary layoffs by reaching necessary cost savings, the Guild countered with the following terms for a suite of voluntary savings, beginning with a fair buyout package, as outlined below: Voluntary (as operational needs allow) DKM may only reject a voluntary buyout request for legitimate operational reasons DKM must convey the rationale for rejecting a buyout request to the Guild A severance package of 12 weeks base pay, plus: 2 weeks’ pay per year of service Prorated weeks of pay for partial years of service 3 months of health care continuation Accrued PTO through end of service paid in lump sum on final paycheck 1 month of outplacement services in support of job transition, re-placement support, and worklife coaching. Option to keep Apple laptop computers and peripherals DKM will classify employees’ termination so that they will be able to collect unemployment benefits. DKM will not object to or dispute any unemployment claims made by employees Once the buyout terms are agreed to between the Guild and the Company, employees will have two weeks to request a buyout. The Company will then have two weeks to determine which requests shall be accepted. Once accepted, employees may continue to work for the Company for a period of 4 weeks, or may choose an additional 4 weeks’ pay. In addition to particulars affecting individual buyout requests, the Guild proposed the following terms: Of the identified needed people cost savings throughout the entire Company, cuts to the bargaining unit shall account for no more than 45% (representative of our portion of the people cost expenses). If the necessary cost savings are not reached through buyouts, DKG and DKM will re-enter negotiations to determine how to reach the rest of the goal. Once the necessary cost savings are reached, there shall be no layoffs conducted to the bargaining unit for a period of one year. DKM’s counteroffer DKM’s counsel responded Tuesday morning with a counteroffer, and our Guild rep agreed to carry on negotiations through a period of the day by email and phone. In the counteroffer, DKM agreed to consider a voluntary buyout option—but struck most of our proposal. In substance, their counteroffer is virtually identical to their involuntary layoff severance package. The significant differences between DKM’s initial severance offer and their counteroffer made yesterday are small: DKM agreed to add prorated weeks of pay for partial years of service (previously absent) DKM increased to 2 months of health care reimbursement (previously 1 month of health care reimbursement) DKM agreed that approved voluntary buyout employees could work 2 additional weeks to manage transition (half of the 4 weeks in our proposal) But crucially, DKM rejected our proposal’s language about only rejecting a buyout request for legitimate operational needs, and our requirement of rationales for rejected voluntary buyout requests. We believe the unilateral process of rejecting buyout requests without providing reasoning and in the absence of operational need removes the “voluntary” aspect of our proposal. Management also refused to address our request that only 45% of the staff cuts come from our unit. The Guild’s ~60 people represent 45% of the payroll; the ~30 people in management represent 55%. Some sort of proportionate impact seems appropriate to us. We have provided DKM the full cost breakdown, and a complete savings analysis, and all fit well within the parameters of the budget we were allocated. We would like to know what the reasoning is for rejecting our offer so we can counter in a way that meets the needs of the company and our employees. We also disagree that asking employees to take a voluntary buyout with only two days’ consideration, and on terms indistinguishable from the company’s initial offer, will incentivize employees to accept the company’s package. We encourage DKM to reconsider its stance on our severance package and agree to provide rationales for rejected buyout requests. Here are the plans at a glance: Savings comparison Breaking down the savings from a harm-mitigation perspective for both people and operations, or why we believe our proposal is actually the better course of action for the company as well as for the Guild. Our proposal offers the necessary financial safety and health care continuation to carry a voluntarily departing employee to their next job, putting into practice the values the company has always professed. We are a progressive organization dedicated to advancing the rights and safety of everyone. We will continue reminding DKM that this is the case so they can begin negotiating with our organizational mission in mind. The Guild does not believe it’s appropriate or humane to continue health care only for departing employees who have the financial ability to pay upfront for insurance while receiving only 6 weeks’ of base pay. This increases harm to employees without increasing savings for the company. If health care costs can be reimbursed by the company, then they can be paid for outright by the company. While the savings per employee is higher in the DKG counteroffer, the severance for each employee is significantly lower. This increases harm to Guild members while offering negligible savings to DKM. If the goal is to minimize harm while meeting the financial needs of the company, we believe there are better options on the table. The company saves more money in their proposal by paying a smaller severance to each employee. But the overall savings per employee is negligibly different from our proposal, while the difference in severance is nearly double for the employee with our proposal. Their plan pays far less severance per person and saves more. Our plan pays more severance per person and saves almost the same. We believe the difference can be met with other voluntary measures, including short periods of voluntary furloughs, voluntary temporary wage or benefit reductions, or voluntarily opting out of some benefits. We have support inside the Guild for these measures, but have not yet been able to negotiate those terms. Additionally, the voluntary nature of our proposed layoff-aversion package empowers those employees who want and are financially able to leave to voluntarily save a fellow Guild member from an involuntary layoff. Thus, the bulk of our people-cost savings are from voluntary departures. This minimizes harm to employees while providing the same financial relief Daily Kos Management needs. Our restrictions around maintaining staffing for the operational needs of Daily Kos mean no department would be cut too deeply to function. We have been very clear that we are not interested in debilitating the operations of Daily Kos. But we can’t ensure our end of this aspect of negotiations is upheld if rationales for rejecting buyouts are not forthcoming. The Guild and DKM will continue negotiating until a reasonable agreement is reached. Making incremental changes that do not help employees and negligibly help the company is not going to get us there. DKG represents 54 Daily Kos staff members and another 6 "disputed" positions, accounting for 68% of Daily Kos' total workforce. DKG is a Pacific Media Workers Guild member, a local of the NewsGuild/Communication Workers of America, and was certified as the bargaining unit of represented staff in 2022. As a member of The NewsGuild/Communication Workers of America, we stand in solidarity with our colleagues across the country, especially with our colleagues at The Washington Post. Daily Kos Guild will not let our democracy die in darkness. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/1/2149007/-The-state-of-Daily-Kos-Guild-Daily-Kos-Management-negotiations-as-of-Feb-1 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/