Members of St. Paul 29C joined with other unions at a mass rally on March 24 to support fair contracts for members of the Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union who work at the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

The newspaper, which is owned by Knight Ridder, demanded concessions in health care and the elimination of language that permits Guild and Typographical Union members to honor other unions' picket lines.

Guild, Typographical Union, and Machinists members are working without contracts.

GCIU pressroom employees are just beginning contract negotiations with the Pioneer Press, according to Local 29C Pres. Nicholas D. Caruso.

"There is no issue that is more important than the right to stand together," Caruso said. Without the right to honor picket lines, unions would be picked off, one by one, as their contracts expire, he said.

Unions at the Pioneer Press also are upset by layoffs at the newspaper. About 80 people were laid off or left through attrition and were not replaced in 2001.

Mike Sweeney, executive officer of the Minnesota Newspaper Guild, said company representatives said they wanted the picket line concession from the Guild because they said they expect "tough negotiations with other unions, so we need all Guild members to come to work and stay at work during the term of their contract, no matter what happens."

The Guild said its negotiators were "told flat out that the company 'is not pleading poverty' in being hard-nosed, but that there is 'a big difference' between saying there is an 'inability' to increase wages versus the 'unwillingness' to pay."

The Newspaper Guild reported that Knight Ridder is looking to squeeze more profits from all its operations. While the company reduced the number of employees by 17.3 percent over the past two years, it paid out some $10 million in bonuses to executives in January 2003, the Guild said. Knight Ridder's net income in the fourth quarter of 2002 was up 31 percent over the same period a year earlier, the Guild said. The company's stock prices and dividends to stockholders also rose over the year.

The Guild reported that the company recently sent a memo to editors at many of its newspapers that it will pursue annual savings of $100 million. Possible strategies, the company suggested, are to create one team to report major events for all 31 of its daily newspapers; centralize copy editing for the chain, as CanWest is doing for its media properties in Canada; and charge for obituaries, movie timetables and other listings that are now free.

Also joining in the noontime rally were members of the Teamsters, Machinists, Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees, State, County and Municipal Employees, Minnesota AFL-CIO, and the Resource Center of the Americas.