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t h e
Herald
By and for the students of Hobart and William Smith Colleges Issue 9
VOLUME CXXVIII
November 19, 2004
Staff Contract Debate The Herald Support HWS Staff Members Try to Come to Terms Wants YOU... A T Felipe Estefan
News Contributor
Melissa Sorrells News Contributor
he Herald would like to announce the Assistant Editor Training Program. Eighty percent of the current staff will be graduating in the spring, so the staff is looking for dedicated, self-motivated students who wish to help continue the grand tradition of the oldest weekly newspaper in New York State. Assistant Editors will essentially be Editors-in-Training. They will communicate with their section editor often, and attend two short weekly meetings. Assistant Editors will most likely be offered a position on the Editorial Board of the Herald in the fall. No prior experience is required: you will learn all you need to know about being a newspaper section editor from your mentor. This Assistant Editor opportunity should be especially interesting to students who are looking to go into journalism, book or magazine publishing, public relations, communications, or media. But
the words “Herald Editor” look great on any resume, and the current staff can attest to that. The Herald is currently looking to take on Assistant Editors for all of our sections, including News, Arts and Entertainment, Opinion-Editorial, Sports, Layout, Advertising, and Copy. Each of these sections offer their own unique perks and challenges. The News, A&E, Op-Ed, and Sports Editors are responsible for generating article ideas and working with contributors. The Layout Editors are responsible for the look of the paper. Advertising staffers deal with the monetary side of the paper, dealing directly with those who advertise in our paper. Copy staff members are responsible for proof reading all articles for grammatical errors and style. These positions are open, and interested students on campus are encouraged to get involved with the Colleges’ newspaper by sending an e-mail inquiry with contact information and a section preference to Herald@HWS.EDU. Interested parties will be invited to an informational pizza party before Christmas break.
s a First year interna tional student this situ ation has been both intriguing and complicated for me. I would like to point out that opinions and judgments expressed on this article are the ones I’ve been able to construct using the elements that are available for me as a student, and which are mainly the ones of just one of the parts of this story; the part that can talk and who additionally, is eager to do it. The HWS support staff is composed of 58 women and one man. They work in different offices, in the College store, Admissions, Library, Business Office, Hubbs etc; and some have worked for the Colleges for more than 15 years. Currently, they are working for what they consider is less than a living wage, and since last June, without a contract. The Colleges, represented by lawyer Terry Conroy, and the bargaining committee of the Union, resumed negotiations in October regarding the content of their contract which would be in effect for the next three years. These negotiations were stopped, but resumed at the beginning of November, 2004. Union members didn’t approve a previous version of the new contract which was presented earlier in the year. According to members of the Union, the earlier contract was rejected due to
disagreement over two issues: the duration of the contract (5 vs. 3 years) and the pay raise structure (long term workers would get smaller percentile increase than newer ones). As of November 16, 2004, issues are just starting to be resolved. The support staff remains sure of what they want, and less than that seems unacceptable. They are requesting a raise of 5% for the first year and 4% for each one of the next two years, for every member of the support staff, regardless of how long they have been at HWS. They argue that giving preference to new workers over long term workers discharges loyalty. They argue moreover, that “a fair increase would be 7 or 8%,” they know, however, they are not going to get it. Their second request concerns health insurance. They requested an upgrade from the “Blue Choice Value” to the “Blue Choice Select.” The differences are significant. Members of the Union explain that their current plan makes them pay for a lot of heatlh related issues out of their own pockets. They want everyone to be covered by what is known as the “free single policy”. That means that people who aren’t married shouldn’t have to pay anything for their health insurance. The other part of the contract that the support staff wants to change concerns the benefits they get as employees of Hobart & William Smith. “We get less for our children’s
education and our retirement,” states one of the Union members. They are also concerned about the people whose paychecks decreases during the summer. The support staff works 30 hours a week during the summer. Since they are paid for hours, their paycheck is even less in those two months. On the other hand, administrative staff, they say, works less hours in the summer but gets paid as any other month because they have a certain monthly salary. The Union must stay strong together if they want to get the best possible outcome of all this. The problem is that the Union, as one of the members says, seems to not be that strong. Some even question about the existence of the Union. The membership fee is $25 a month. The problem is that members not always go to meetings and not all people vote about what should be done. The mood seems to be changing regarding this new contract though. They have a new representative, Bob Tompkins, who seems to have restored some faith of the Union members on the process. “People are hopeful but they don’t think they will get a fair deal”, says one of the members. On Friday, November 5th, members of the Union with their representative stood in front of Scandling Center to explain to the community their requests. With sings that said “$1 dollar more a day, we are worth it”, they addressed the current tense CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
News
Campus Life
Op-Ed
A&E
Sports
The HWS Support Staff is Still Working without a Contract!
Letter from the Editor: Hadley Mongell
A Response to Chad“W Stands For Wrong”
A Thoughtful Review of Koshare
A closer look at Statesman and Heron Sucess this Season
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