Deepest Sympathies To The Jahr Family

Local 140-N Officers and Members extend our most heartfelt sympathy to Bill and his family.

We share your pain and our prayers are with you and your loved ones Brother Bill.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to

the members of GCC/IBT

Local 140-N and their families!

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Be not thankful for the things that can be attained, but rather be thankful for the things that are bestowed unto you in the spirit of Love, Kindness and Happiness!
Ronnie Pineda

Helping Hand

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Members of Local 140-N in attendance at our general meeting earlier this month voted unanimously to provide a helping hand during the holidays to our Brothers and Sisters that were seperated from the company in April.

I was very moved when Brother Linard Williams and Brother Mike Brierley made a motion to extend a Holiday gift of $50.00 to each family of the recently laid-off members of Local 140-N. The motion was immediately seconded and all were in favor, with none opposed. I am very proud of all of you for your compassion and true understanding of what it means to take care of one another!

I challenge management to do the same..................

Ronnie Pineda

President,

GCC/IBT Local 140-N

Do your co-workers make you sick?

By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on November 12th, 2009

If you’re one of the 57 million workers in the U.S. without paid sick days, chances are the answer is “yes”. Thirty-nine percent of us have a difficult choice to make when we’re sick: go to work and risk infecting our co-workers (and risk making our illness worse), or stay home and put our finances and our jobs in jeopardy.

Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Rosa DeLauro are leading the charge to pass the Healthy Families Act first introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy last spring. The Healthy Families Act would provide 7 paid sick days to all workers at companies with at least 15 employees, and would prevent employers from retaliating against workers who get sick. The bill has 113 sponsors in the House and 21 sponsors in the Senate, and has been endorsed by the Obama administration.
Passing this bill is an important step in fighting the spread of seasonal and H1N1 flu. Three quarters of workers without paid sick days work in food and service industries where they come into contact with both co-workers and the public.

The Healthy Families Act is an alternative to the Emergency Influenza Containment Act introduced by Rep. George Miller, which would guarantee five paid sick days to workers at businesses with at least 15 employees. Unfortunately, this bill only applies if management tells a worker to go home, and the bill would sunset after two years. Either bill is a step forward, but the Healthy Families Act is stronger.

Tell Congress to pass paid sick day legislation NOW!

Cocktails with the Los Angeles Times Pressmen

This Monday November 16th at 4:00 p.m. the pressmen from the Los Angeles Times will gather at Weiland Brewery, and everyone from the Los Angeles Times is welcome to attend.
400 E 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-680-2881

DIRECTIONS






linked from edpadgett.com

Interlocal Pension Fund Participation

The members in attendance on Sunday's Interlocal Pension meeting voted almost unanimously, in favor of participating in the GCC/IBT Interlocal Pension Fund. This is one of the main reasons for having wanted to form a union in our shops in the first place.

The fact that the company sponsored retirement plans were quickly becoming inferior to what we were once provided, the need for an alternative retirement investment was imperative in order to insure ample financial resources when we need it most.

Executive Vice President, Keith Denson will chair the committee on establishing the various segments and the contribution amounts that will apply to each segment.The committee members include Linard Williams, Mike Brierley, Dan Beruman and Richard Olmeda.

The committe members will be able to assist Keith in answering questions and instructing members on how to participate.

For all other questions or assistance, contact EVP, Keith Denson at (661) 886-5698 or e-mail atmailto:atmakeup52@sbcglobal.net

For more information on the fund itself, visit the ILPF website at http://www.ilpfgciu.org/ or e-mail info@ilpfgciu.org For immediate answers, or literature, call (630) 752-8400

O.C Meeting Reminder

I will be in O.C. tomorrow morning at the Round Table Pizza on Warner and Euclid in Fountain Valley at 11:00am. This is an informal meeting I was asked to hold in order to discuss current issues and their effects in the shops. All bargaining unit employees are welcome to attend. There will be a General Meeting for members of the Local following the October 18th InterLocal Pension Meeting at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Commerce.

Ronnie

Transfers and Shift Pick Details

Yesterday Keith and I met with Russ and Leticia to discuss the transfer of 27 press persons from O.C. to L.A. on October 19th. The ultimate decision belonged to management and we agreed to an unprecedented decision to allow bargaining unit employees to bid on shifts in either shop based on seniority.

This decision maintains compliance with the contract, which I was told by many of you in both L.A. and O.C. to preserve seniority and expressed no desire to amend the contract.

Transfers were handled in various ways in the past and this is the first time that we have an opportunity to bid shifts based on seniority in either shop. This affirms that we are ONE body, ONE union regardless of which facility one chooses to work in.

A few details:

Posted schedules are to run concurrent through 2010.


Orange County bargaining unit employees may voluntarily transfer to L.A.
Volunteers must inform management by October 9, 2009 by noon. After that time, management will institute mandatory transfers of the balance needed from those in O.C. with the least seniority.

Anyone wishing to voluntarily transfer to O.C. from L.A. may request to do so also and must meet the October 9 deadline as well. Seniority will determine whether it will be possible to transfer to O.C. based on how many volunteers from O.C. request to come to L.A.

There are four (4) management assigned shifts in L.A. that print commercial products such as the Wall St. Journal, Barron's and The Post. Anyone one on these crews currently may bid on any available shift schedule when it is their time to pick.

Vacations scheduled for the remainder of the year will be honored and vacation picks for 2010 will be bid later in the year. If new schedules conflict with 2009 vacation picks, you may be asked to modify your vacation pick. If vacation arrangements have been made, IE. Airline and hotel reservations, management has indicated that they will accommodate and honor established vacation times.


Management has posted schedules and all the details of the bid process, so read the information carefully and if you have any questions, check with your representatives.

In Solidarity,
Ronnie Pineda
President,
GCC/IBT Local 140-N

Update.

Hello Brothers and sisters. Exec Vice President, Keith Denson and myself met with Russ and Leticia to discuss the pending transfer of approximately 27 presspersons from O.C. to L.A.

We did not finalize the terms of the effects and plan to meet again on Thursday afternoon. As I said before, we will disclose the details once they are confirmed.
Be patient and don't believe the rumors.

One certainty is that this staff movement will not result in a reduction of the workforce and no bargaining unit employees are in jeopardy of losing their jobs.

In Solidarity
Ronnie

Important Reminders!

GCC/IBT Trainers Rob Thiesen and Gene Binda will be here this coming Saturday so plan to attend. Their information will help make the shops a safer and healthier place to work. BE THERE! GET INVOLVED! This is your Union!Training Flyer Revised

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InterLocal Pension Fund Meeting

GCC/IBT Interlocal Pension Fund Chairman, John Agenbroad is returning to Los Angeles on Sunday October 18, 2009 to once again meet with our members to discuss and vote on participation in the GCC/IBT InterLocal Pension Fund.

The meeting and vote will take place at the Crowne Plaza/Commerce Casino at 11:00 AM.

This is a very important part of everyones retirement future and no one should miss this meeting! Tribune no longer provides a viable retirement vehicle for it's employees. Will you have enough retirement money?

THERE IS NO OTHER PENSION LIKE THIS IN THE COUNTRY!

This pension is the ONLY 501 C18 in the country. It was founded in 1950 and the fund is overseen by union trustees , NO company trustees. There is in fact absolutely no involvement by the company in any way with regards to the fund, its investments or the administration of the fund.

The Fund's assets were reported in 2007 of the 57th Annual Report of The Trustees to be approximately 1.8 Billion dollars.John stated the current assets are reported to be 1.4 billion dollars.The administration fees are a mere 4% which is unbelievable for a fund with the assets that are in the ILPF.

For more information visit the ILPF website at http://www.ilpfgciu.org/ or e-mail info@ilpfgciu.org For immediate answers, or literature, call (630) 752-8400

(Click here for Previous InterLocal Pension Post)

Union/L.A. Times Meeting Scheduled

A meeting has been scheduled on October 8, 2009 at 10:00 am to discuss the company's plans to restructure the Orange County Facility. That was the earliest we could agree to in order to have our International Representative and Attorney present at the meeting.

As usual, the rumors and speculation are in full swing and I have heard plenty of doomsday scenarios, including supervisors predictions. Apparently Mgt. is intentionally leaving supervision out of the loop because they have come up with some of the wildest scenarios I've heard so far.

I must say, none of the scenarios have led to the assumption that we have nothing to fear. As always, we can only wonder how this restructuring is going to impact our shops. It's been almost a decade since anything good has been bestowed upon the employees of the L.A. Times from the higher ups in this greed driven Tribune Corporation.

I wish to meet with everyone on Friday October 9, 2009 in O.C at 11:00am at Round Table Pizza in Fountain Valley (Euclid and Warner) to disclose the findings of our meeting with the company. This meeting is open to ALL Bargaining Unit Employees.

In Solidarity,
Ronnie

Will Ferrell stands up for the real health care victims

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Questions and Answers

Questions are coming in by the dozens, unfortunately answers won’t be available until we meet with management and ask the same questions that are being presented to our Local and it’s Officers.

As you know, management notified us of their potential restructuring of the Orange County Facility and the possible transfer of approximately 30 to 40 presspersons from O.C. to L.A. That is all we know at this time. I have been in contact with our Attorneys in Washington since an article posted on Recording Secretary Ed Padgett’s Blog eluded to the O.C. Register moving it’s operation into the L.A. Times Costa Mesa Plant.

We have accepted the company’s offer to meet and have been provided dates by management. I have forwarded the dates to our local Attorney to ensure his attendance and legal assistance during our meeting with management.

There is a lot of speculation at this point and some of your assumptions could possibly be correct, but we must wait until we can obtain answers directly from management. As I stated on saveourtrade.com, I asked management if there was any truth to the article to which H.R. and the L.A. pressroom Superintendent denied any knowledge of such an agreement with the Register.

I’m not saying any of this has anything to do with the Register, but history has proven that rumors definitely come to pass, especially in the production departments, and this rumor may end no differently. History has also proven that when management makes decisions, they’re not usually in our best interest and always come at our expense. That is why I have been preaching unity and solidarity for almost a decade now.

As soon as we schedule the meeting with management and have the opportunity ask your questions, the Local will post answers on the Blog, shop bulletin boards, and a general meeting will be immediately scheduled to meet with all bargaining unit employees in order to answers your question directly.

Again, I want to remind everyone that our Local is only as strong as the members and if this situation has a negative effect on our bargaining unit, it will take everyone to make a stand. Unity and Solidarity is our greatest strength! Get involved!

Ronnie Pineda
President, GCC/IBT Local 140-N

O.C. Facility Restructuring

Our Local was notified on Wednesday afternoon (via e-mail) that the company intends to implement restructuring changes to the Orange County Facility Operation. The SVP of Operations has made an offer to meet for the purposes of discussing their restructuring plan and it's effect on Orange County and Los Angeles Bargaining Unit Employees.

What exactly is to be done is unknown at this time, we will ask management all the pertinent questions necessary to answer all of the employees questions that will certainly arise from this announcement.

The only information we do have at this time is that the restructuring of O.C. will result in the mandatory transfer of approximately 30 to 40 presspersons from O.C. to L.A. on or about October 17th.

This "plan" may have something to do with the O.C. Register and anything said at this point in time is speculation, unless mgt. honestly discloses that information prior to meeting with the Union. I personally asked the H.R. Representative and the L.A. pressroom Superintendent last week about the possibility of the Register moving into our O.C. shop, to which both denied any knowledge of such an arrangement.

Further details will be provided when they are obtained from management during the offered meeting we intend to accept.

Ronnie Pineda
President,
GCC/IBT Local 140-N

Health and Safety/Leadership Training

Training Flyer Revised