Day 2 - Early edition

Talks fail; trial resumes

Because no bargaining progress was made, the Journal's trial on 46 charges that it violated federal labor law resumed at 1 p.m. Guild Administrator Tim Schick continued testifying about the bargaining history from October 1999 to last week.

He detailed how the company imposed selected terms of its original contract proposal at different times, even as negotiations continued. Schick also described the various contract offers that the Guild made after its members rejected the company's "last, best and final offer." The company, he testified, rejected those offers.

At this morning's session, the company insisted that talks be off the record, meaning that nothing can be put in writing and no details can be divulged. The Guild assembled its full bargaining team. The company was represented by its lawyer, Richard A. Perras, and its human resources director, Thomas McDonough.

Speaking through a federal mediator, the Guild made an offer. The company rejected it and made no counterproposals.

Further details of Schick's testimony today will be posted here later tonight.

The trial is scheduled to resume tomorrow at 9 a.m. in Pawtucket City Hall.

Daily reports on the trial will be posted here on www.journalontrial.org. The Web site also has directions and a map to Pawtucket City Hall, 137 Roosevelt Ave. The trial starts at 11 a.m. on Monday and at 9 a.m. on the other days. Here's how to get there:

From Providence and points south: Take Rte. 95 north to School Street exit. Turn left at bottom of ramp onto School Street. Pass Apex on the left and go through one light (one-way right) to next light, bearing left. Go to light at Slater Mill and Visitors Center, making a right onto Roosevelt Avenue. City Hall will be on your right, with parking on left. Trial is on third floor.

From Boston and points north: Take Rte. 95 south into Rhode Island. Take exit 29, Downtown Pawtucket. At end of ramp, merge onto Broadway. Go about two-tenths of a mile and turn right onto Exchange Street. Turn left on Roosevelt Avenue. City Hall will be on your left, with parking on the right. Trial is on the third floor.

Felice J. Freyer is the Providence Journal's award-winning medical writer. She joined the paper in 1982 and was assigned to the medical beat in 1989. A member of the Guild's Executive Committee since 1994, she has taken a leave from the newspaper to cover the trial.

There is much more information about the dispute at the Guild's main website, www.riguild.org. E-mail the Guild at png@riguild.org. The union's mailing address is: The Providence Newspaper Guild, 270 Westminster St., Providence, RI 02903. Telephone: (401) 421-9466. FAX: (401) 421-9495.