Post-Dispatch drops 'open shop'

ST. LOUIS -- The union representing newsroom and other employees at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch will immediately remove billboards and radio adds criticizing the newspaper for trying "to bust the union" after the paper dropped a controversial "open shop" provision from its latest contract proposal.

The Post-Dispatch made the new contract offer Monday, 15 days after the union representing about 600 newsroom, advertising and circulation workers voted overwhelmingly to grant leaders the power to take any necessary action, including a strike, to gain an acceptable deal.

"There are other issues we have to study," said St. Louis Newspaper Guild president and Post-Dispatch reporter Tim O'Neil. "But it is good to have achieved a resolution on this major issue that to us meant the survival of the union."

The next bargaining session has not been scheduled, O'Neil said.

The issue of an "open shop" stalled talks between the company and the union, whose contract expired Jan. 9. The newspaper is currently a "closed shop," meaning employees in jobs represented by the union cannot opt out of membership or paying dues.

The company has said employees should have a choice, while the guild said switching to an open shop would weaken the union.

Publisher Terry Egger, in a letter prefacing Monday's offer, said his "firmly held personal belief remains unchanged. ... However, my professional responsibility to all our employees transcends any single issue in these negotiations."

The company's three-year offer includes pay raises for guild workers of 4 percent to 5 percent in the first year, 3 percent to 4 percent in the second year and 3 percent in the final year. The proposal also scraps a two-tiered health insurance premium that some newer union members said was unfair.

"This contract package is a significant step toward reaching a fair and reasonable agreement with the newspaper guild," said Matt Kraner, the Post-Dispatch's general manager, in a prepared statement.

Shares of Pulitzer were up $1.03 to $54.33 in trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

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