Sketches by Gail Hartnett-Rodriguez Judge William G. Kocol and Journal city editor Susan Areson. Enlarge

Day 6 - Early edition
More overnight

By Felice J. Freyer

3.04.02 • 8:39 p.m.
PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Two high-ranking Providence Journal editors appeared to contradict each other -- each asserting that the other was responsible for a change in policy -- in testimony today, the sixth day of the Journal's trial on nearly four dozen charges of violating federal labor law.

The trial is expected to end tomorrow, three days earlier than scheduled.

Patricia A. Welker, Journal managing editor for administration, on the stand. Enlarge

Susan Areson, the city editor, testified that she started disallowing "small grid" differentials for people who did certain copy editing jobs in response to a directive from Patricia A. Welker, managing editor for administration.

But when Welker took the witness stand later, she said that the change in small-grid payments was Areson's decision.

Under questioning by Elizabeth Vorro, lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board, both Areson and Welker acknowledged that payments made in 1999 stopped in 2000 -- and that the Guild was not notified or involved.

The "small grid" differentials are additional payments that employees received when they worked in jobs with higher pay than their job titles. The change in small-grid policy is one of several instances in which the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency responsible for enforcing labor law, alleges that the Journal made changes in working conditions that were illegal because they were unilateral.

Areson and Welker were among eight witnesses that the Journal brought in its defense today. Journal lawyer Richard A. Perras said that the Journal's defense will rely heavily on documents, and that the courtroom testimony should finish by mid-morning tomorrow.

After cross-examination, the defense may introduce rebuttal witnesses. After that, the trial will be over. There will be no closing arguments. Instead, both sides will summarize their positions in briefs to Administrative Law Judge William G. Kocol, who will probably rule in two or three months.

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

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.