Day 5 - Sole edition

Doreen Tracey, a newsroom editorial assistant, described receiving a new job description, apparently so that the company could stop paying her a $6-a-day differential for preparing graduation lists.

Cynthia Benjamin, a copy editor, told of discovering, more than a year after the fact, that the Journal had quietly stopped paying the "small grid" differential that the contract requires for people who work in classifications higher than their job title.

And Karen Ziner, a reporter, recounted her efforts to get the company to accommodate a disability that left her unable to drive for a month. The company's response, she said, was to restrict her to assignments in Providence.

The testimony came on the fifth day of the Journal's trial on 46 allegations of violating federal labor law. The charges have been brought by the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency responsible for enforcing labor law, and stem from a 2 1/2-year-old dispute between the Journal and the Guild.

Tracey, the editorial assistant, testified that for three or four years she has collected, organized and produced the lists of high school graduates that the Journal publishes each spring. She described this work as different from her usual duties -- primarily typing obituaries and press releases. For this work, Tracey previously received a "small grid" differential of a little more than $6 a day.

In May 2000, Tracey said, she was instructed to prepare the graduation lists, but "I was told I was no longer going to get small grid." Shortly afterward, she was handed a new job description that incorporated work on the graduation lists.

On cross-examination, Journal lawyer Lincoln D. Almond sought to ascertain whether Tracey's regular job duties encompassed independently obtaining information from outside the building. She said that she picks up files at bankruptcy court and sometimes calls people with questions about unclear press releases.

Benjamin, the copy editor, said that she often worked as "slot editor," a higher-paying position than her official job title. For years the Journal paid her a differential of $27.99 a week for performing slot editor duties, which include laying out pages and making the final check on copy before publication.

Whenever she was assigned to a "slot" position, Benjamin said, she marked it on her time sheet. Starting in January 2000, unbeknownst to her, a company official each week would cross out her notation of "slot" duties, and the company stopped paying the differential, according to her testimony. Benjamin testified that she does not normally review her pay stubs because her check is deposited directly into her bank account, and didn't notice the change because her take-home pay often fluctuates by more than $25 a week.

On cross-examination by Almond, Benjamin acknowledged that she would have noticed the change if she had reviewed her pay stubs.

The timing is an issue because the law requires that complaints be filed within six months of a violation.

Karen Ziner, the reporter, said that in May 2001 she brought a letter to work from her neurologist explaining that she could not drive for four to six weeks. Ziner testified that she has a seizure disorder, and was switching to a medication that could induce seizures. Her doctor wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen before she drove again.

Ziner asked Human Resources Director Thomas McDonough for meeting to discuss her situation. She asked to have a union representative, Brian Jones, present. McDonough, she testified, would not agree to having Jones present.

Ziner went alone to meet with McDonough. "I was hoping that the company would help me out, not just as a matter of sensitivity, but what I saw as a matter of law," she said. "My understanding of the law is that the company is supposed to provide a reasonable accommodation. …

"McDonough told me that … that the company was going to accommodate me by permitting me not to drive."

Ziner said she asked McDonough if instead the company would waive its new policy that allowed reporters to use taxi vouchers only within Providence. For assignments outside the city, they have to pay up front and seek reimbursement later.

McDonough would not waive the policy for her, Ziner said.

Ziner said she called the New England Disability Law Center and the Job Accommodation Network, agencies involved with the rights of the disabled. "In my conversations with them, they were rather shocked at the Journal's--"

"Objection!" Almond said.

"Sustained," said Administrative Law Judge William G. Kocol.

"It was suggested to me," Ziner continued, "that I press this issue because it was in violation of the law … .

"I just wanted to do my job," Ziner explained. "I needed to get around and I was looking for some help."

Ziner said she then met with Executive Editor Joel Rawson. She explained to him that it was difficult for her to always have enough cash on hand for taxi rides around the state.

She asked him whether she could have a cash advance. "He said there was no cash in the building," Ziner testified. "Even he could not get cash if he wanted it."

"I said, `Would it be possible for me to get a check advance?' … Mr. Rawson's reply was that he wanted me to stay in Providence."

Then, Ziner testified, she asked McDonough by phone if she could have a check advance. McDonough refused.

Because of the restrictions on her ability to travel, Ziner testified, she had to forfeit a story on Nantucket that she wanted to cover. She passed the story idea to another reporter, who covered it for the paper.

Questioned by NLRB lawyer Joseph Griffin, Ziner said the company treated her differently when she was first diagnosed with adult-onset epilepsy in 1986. At that time, she was not allowed to drive for six months. In 1986, the company allowed her to take taxis anywhere in the state, using vouchers so that she did not have put cash up front.

Responding to Almond's brief cross-examination, Ziner said that last year, she did not take a taxi out of Providence during the time she was unable to drive.

The trial will resume at 10 a.m. Monday 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.