{"id":17291,"date":"2023-11-16T18:49:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T23:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewash.org\/?p=17291"},"modified":"2023-11-16T18:49:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T23:49:19","slug":"washington-post-employees-protest-buyouts-slowed-contract-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewash.org\/2023\/11\/16\/washington-post-employees-protest-buyouts-slowed-contract-negotiations\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Post employees protest buyouts, slowed contract negotiations"},"content":{"rendered":"
Members of the Washington Post Guild picketed outside of the paper\u2019s main office Thursday, demanding higher wages and expanded benefits for employees after the company announced a buyout and contract negotiations stagnated this fall.<\/p>\n
Chants of \u201cOne, two, three, four, we won\u2019t settle anymore,\u201d and \u201cHey-hey, ho-ho, no one should be forced to go,\u201d reverberated across K Street as picketing workers rallied in protest, something the organizers said has not occured at the Post in decades.<\/p>\n
The union organized the demonstration in response to a buyout proposal from company leadership intended to cut 240 employees from the Post’s workforce. \u00a0Employees also took issue with the Post\u2019s contract proposals, which the Guild said do not include the wages, retirement packages, or job security provisions workers previously asked for.<\/p>\n
\u201c[We are] protesting the buyout offer that we were given, and we\u2019re also demanding that the company continue to negotiate with us over the buyout package, as well as the contract, which has been an ongoing negotiation for months,\u201d said staff writer Daniela Galarza.<\/p>\n Post employees said they grew frustrated with the buyout program because the burden to take the company-offered severance package fell more heavily on a select number of news desks and offices.<\/p>\n 最新蜜桃影像ington Post Guild Co-Chair Katie Mettler said each department of the Post was offered the package, but the offer came with a caveat: some departments saw a higher \u201ccap\u201d placed on the number of eligible employees than others.<\/p>\n Mettler said departments such as the newsletter, local news, video, audio, copy, and circulation were given a cap of between five and seven employees, implying company leadership expects that number of workers to take the package whether they want to or not. Other departments were given caps of either one or two employees, she said.<\/p>\n The result is a proposal that forces cuts on employees who would prefer to stay at the company and blocks those who may want to leave the company from taking the package, Mettler said.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the buyout, specifically, for some people it\u2019s truly voluntary, and that\u2019s what the company has said,\u201d Mettler said. \u201cFor those people who feel this is a good deal for them, we want them to take it, but \u00a0for a lot of people it feels forced or coerced.\u201d<\/p>\n Those who do take the buyout option will receive disproportionate levels of actual take-home compensation based on their age, Mettler said.<\/p>\n The Guild co-chair said the money offered to buyout takers is placed in a secure retirement account (SRA). The money in these accounts is taxed upon withdrawal. Workers who dip into their SRA at a younger age are required to pay higher taxes on the accounts than those who are near retirement age.<\/p>\n