24. February 2005 • Murph
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The Michigan Daily is leading today’s issue with an article on the Ann Arbor News employees serving as scabs at the Ohio paper, the Youngstown Vindicator. We previously noted a snippet from the MetroTimes on the arrangements, simply stating that they were suspected, but the Daily has more details in their lead article and today’s editorial, particularly with regards to compensation of the scabs.
From the editorial,
Management counters that the paper is losing money and cannot afford the pay increases. Its actions during the strike, however, speak otherwise. In addition to paying for private security guards, the company has lured reporters and editors to cross the union’s picket line for two-week stints by reportedly offering a per diem bonus of $75 and by paying hotel expenses and on top of an hourly rate of $20—greater than the union’s top pay scale of $17.82. Replacement workers are also allegedly being paid by their home papers for the two weeks they are away. Scabs have come from as far away as Massachusetts, New Orleans and, unfortunately, Ann Arbor.
And the article,
According to Shaulis, the Ann Arbor News staffers served two-week terms and each returned to Ann Arbor last week. They made $20 per hour and $30 per hour for overtime, including free lodging, gas mileage and a $75-per-day stipend, in addition to their salaries from their regular papers. Over half of the union workers make less than $9 per hour.
UPDATE, 1pm, 25Feb: Daily Editor-in-Chief Jason Pesick has issued a correction to the article mentioned above:
The story named four Ann Arbor News employees; however, it should not have named sports writer Antoine Pitts. There is not only scant evidence to suggest that he was in Youngstown, but there is significant evidence suggesting that he was not there.
The error in judgement was my own, not that of the reporter or any other editor. I have taken Pitts’s name off of the online version of the story.
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