Star Tribune Guild members to receive first pay raise in six years

After more than five years without a pay increase, Star Tribune Guild members approved a proposed 39-month contract last week that includes a 2 percent raise this year and again in 2015, the Pioneer Press reports.

Co-chairman of the guild David Chanen told the newspaper the agreement also includes a guaranteed 80-20 percent employer-employee split in the payment of health insurance premiums next year and allows non-union management to edit stories for publication.

The new labor deal passed by a 78 percent margin with 92 percent of members voting, according to the Guild's Facebook page.

The Star Tribune says the union represents about 250 reporters, photographers, copy editors, news assistants, circulation and promotion workers and team leaders of Minnesota's largest newspaper.

The Guild's most recent contract expired at the end of January, but previous terms were kept in place during negotiations.

More than 100 Guild members rallied earlier this month outside the newspaper’s downtown Minneapolis headquarters, according to City Pages.