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November 30, 2006
No Strike Tonight
Tonight a little after 9:30 p.m. Newspaper Guild President Henry Holcomb walked into the union's office in the 1300 block of Buttonwood St. and declared "There will be no strike called tonight."
He and Guild spokesman Stu Bykofsky had a quick discussion about what particulars to send in a statement to union members. There weren't many. "We're making progress," Holcomb said. "As long as we're making legitimate progress we're going to keep going."
Holcomb said they had movement on a number of important issues though the key sticking points for the union—including the pension and seniority—remain on the table.
Holcomb also seemed unconcerned by statements made earlier today by council of unions president Joe Lyons, indicating that the other unions involved in negotiations had agreed to a nine day contract extension and would cross a picket line should the guild call a strike. "Teamsters have a history of honoring a legitimate picket line," said Holcomb.
As the clock neared 10 p.m., Holcomb took numerous phone calls and conducted a pair of interviews. Each time he said the same thing: "I expect we're gonna be negotiating for several more hours tonight," he said, "until the mediator says we should go home and get some rest."
The two sides were even preparing to exchange further written proposals before the night ended. So, here in Philadelphia at the Newspaper Guild's office, it is, contractually speaking, one minute to midnight—and evidently will be for some time. The core provisions of the contract will continue until either the two sides reach resolution on a deal, a strike is called or the company locks out the Guild.
"[Philadelphia Media Holdings owner] Brian Tierney could come back and give us a final offer or something but I don't think that's going to happen," said Holcomb, who seemed remarkably at ease for a man with one minute to go.
Posted by steve at November 30, 2006 10:07 PM
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