On Wednesday, Gazette Publisher Alan Allnutt sent the following letter to employees:

To All Gazette Employees:

On Jan. 14 the company tabled final contract proposals to the Guild. Last Sunday the Guild submitted the proposals to its members. The advertising unit accepted it, while editorial and RSS units turned it down. At the same time, those units instructed their negotiating committee in a resolution to return to the table to try and resolve the jurisdiction issue in a way “that meets the needs of both the Gazette and its employees.”

This afternoon (Jan. 28) the two sides met in the presence of a conciliator. The Guild presented a proposal on jurisdiction that unfortunately does not meet the needs of the company. In addition, the Guild proposed reopening many other issues that the company considers closed under its final offer. The company told the Guild that it remains open to other proposals on jurisdiction that would satisfy both parties. We remain hopeful that a resolution on this issue can be reached.

Sincerely,

Alan Allnutt

Publisher and General Manager

UPDATE: A response from the bargaining committee:

Clarification

While it is not our intention to bargain by bulletin we wish to clarify statements made by the Publisher in an e-mail to all employees yesterday.

On Sunday, the members in Editorial and RSS voted to reject the Company’s “final offer” and adopted a resolution mandating the bargaining committee to resume negotiations for a fair contract. Your message was loud and clear: negotiate a deal that will resolve jurisdiction and all outstanding issues to conclude a fair agreement.

At yesterday’s meeting before a conciliator the Guild made proposals on all outstanding issues which included movement on most. Contrary to the impression left by the Publisher’s statement, the outstanding issues are not “closed” and remain to be negotiated. Among the proposals yesterday were several that agreed with the company’s latest proposals.

We have committed to bargaining in good faith and expect the company to act in the same manner. We have given the company a counter proposal and it is now up to them to provide us with a counter offer.

Your Bargaining Committee