Media

New Time Inc. union deal allows outsourcing

It’s about time.

The News Guild of New York on Friday ended a protracted two-year labor dispute with Time Inc. by agreeing to a five-year deal that provides for a 14 percent pay hike over the course of the contract.

The new deal permits Time to continue to outsource dozens of union jobs.

Up to 50 full-time newsroom jobs can be outsourced, according to the deal, as can all 80 temporary Guild jobs. The limit of 50 full-time jobs that can be outsourced is down from 60 that was in an earlier version of the new contract.

“The contract provides Time Inc. with the operational flexibility necessary to succeed in today’s transformative media environment,” Greg Giangrande, Time Inc.’s EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer, said in a statement.

Under terms of the deal, union members get a one-time signing bonus of $2,500 and the union agrees to drop an appeal to the National Labor Relations Board.

“This agreement is a mixed bag,” said Guild president Peter Szekely. “Everyone looked at the dispute we were in and prospect of protracted litigation and decided they’d rather have stability.”

He said the contract was approved by a 3-to-1 margin.

The last contract expired in August 2014 and Time had already imposed its “last best and final offer” on about 200 Guild members on Time, Sports Illustrated, People, Fortune and Money in November 2014.

Under terms of the new deal, one additional year was tacked onto the end of the contract so it now expires in March 31, 2019.

The pay hike includes a previously enacted 2.5 percent raise from October 2014. That will now be followed by 3 percent boost, retroactive to Oct. 1, 2015 and 2.5 percent retroactive to March 1, 2016 and increases of 2 percent a year will be paid on March 1 in 2017, 2018 and 2019.