Globe members ratify unpaid leave plan

Globe and Mail members have voted overwhelmingly for a Share-the-Pain temporary layoff plan that will see virtually everyone, from the publisher down, taking unpaid leave this summer.

In a vote held Friday over the internet, Globe members voted 87% in favour of the plan. An impressive 72% of the workforce participated in the vote.

The union negotiated the Share-the-Pain plan after the company proposed cutting 80 jobs for the June through August period.

A tentative deal negotiated last week allowed voluntary unpaid leaves of varying lengths to offset involuntary leaves. The second key component of the tentative deal is that the involuntary leaves would be shared by all employees, with the exception of a small number who are working on crucial projects with a fall deadline. 

As a result of a large number of employees coming forward to volunteer for unpaid leave over the summer, the number of involuntary leave days were reduced to just four per employee.

Members voted Friday on whether to ratify that deal or face the employer's initial plan to cut 80 jobs for a full three months.

As part of the deal negotiated by the union, the company cannot increase the flow of layout work to Pagemasters, an outside editing/layout firm, or increase the use of freelance writers over the summer period.