Buyouts | WashPo Guild claims sweetened offer

The Newspaper Guild chapter representing more than 1,000 Washington Post newsroom and other employees said today that it had persuaded the newspaper to boost its recent buyout offer. The two sides didn't reach a full agreement, however, and the daily now has the right to present its final offer.

Under the Post’s Separation Incentive Program, according to the Guild, the company will:

1. Make a severance payment equal to 3.25 weeks of pay for every year of service, up from 2.5 weeks in their initial offer. In the final round of talks, the Guild had offered to reach agreement if the Post offered 3.75 weeks’ pay, a significant departure downward from the five weeks Guild negotiators initially sought.
2. Increase the health insurance benefit to a maximum 12 months for all employees who accept the buyout, regardless of how many years they have served. Initially, the Post was offering to pay for coverage up to three months for those with less than 10 years’ service and up to six months for those with more than 10 years’ service.

Post vs. Gannett

Under GCI's Feb. 9 buyout offer to 665 newspaper employees, recipients would get two weeks' pay for every year of service up to a maximum of 52 weeks. They also would get medical coverage for the life of the severance period.

Eligible employees must be at least 56, and have 20 or more years' service. They have until March 31 to accept the offer.

We're locating buyouts

Gannett Bloggers are assembling a list of buyout offers by location. So far, we've located 590 of the 665 at 44 worksites. Is yours represented?

Please check this read-only spreadsheet, then post new or updated information in the comments section, below.