-- An open letter to our readers --

Dear Readers:
The Vindicator is continuing, without interruption, to fulfill its commitments to you, our carriers, our advertisers and the greater Mahoning Valley community by publishing and making full distribution of the complete Vindicator. However, some of our employees -- members of the Youngstown Newspaper Guild -- have chosen to strike for the first time in 40 years and only the second time in the 135-year history of this locally owned newspaper.
You, our readers, deserve an explanation of this unfortunate event.
The Vindicator has for many years been faced with:
UA shrinking advertising and circulation revenue base.
U Major recessions.
U Increased competition for advertising dollars.
As a result, this family-owned company has operated in the red since 1997, a fact known to all our employees.
For The Vindicator to continue to provide good jobs, expenses simply must be reduced to meet the reality of a substantially smaller revenue base.
All employees of The Vindicator -- management and union -- have endured a wage freeze for four years. But the impact of the freeze has not been the same for all. For example, the average gross earnings of the striking circulation DMs who oversee the carriers have increased by about 10 percent over the last two years and are up over 29 percent since 1998. In fact, last year's average gross pay for a circulation DM was more than $46,000.
Employees represented by the pressroom, mailers and Guild unions have all agreed to some concessions during past negotiations. But more changes are needed. The pressroom union agreed to additional changes last month, and the company is in the process of negotiating additional changes with the mailers' union.
But in these negotiations the Guild:
U Set a rigid strike deadline from the beginning.
U Refused to consider additional changes.
U Demanded elimination of prior concessions.
U Proposed wage increases of 17 percent to 34 percent (depending on the wage classification) over three years. (That percentage was on the table when the Guild struck.)
Other Guild demands include:
U Fully paid health insurance (now a flat-dollar contribution of $9.50 for singles and $22.50 for family per week).
U Six months of sick pay at 100 percent of regular pay for all employees.
U Four dollars per week per person increase for dental insurance funding.
U Longevity raises for three Guild members of $50 to $100 per week.
U Free parking.
Obviously, the Guild's demands would:
U Dramatically increase costs.
U Ruin efforts by The Vindicator to return to profitability.
U Fail to respond to the economic conditions in the Valley.
Nevertheless, at the time of the strike, The Vindicator had offered up to $800 in signing bonuses (depending on classification) and a yearly 1 percent increase in the next two years.
But rather than continue to negotiate, as it has in the past, the Guild struck without a final offer from the company.
Now, the Guild has started a "strike newspaper" in collaboration with a competing newspaper -- and a nonunion publication at that. A strike newspaper at a non-union publication? Apparently, the Guild's union dedication stops at The Vindicator's gate.
The Vindicator wants the strike to end so we can all work together and continue to serve our readers, our carriers, our advertisers and our community. With the help of federal mediators, we will work for a fair settlement.
But in the meantime, our dedicated employees, both union (two unions are honoring their contracts and continuing to work) and nonunion, will continue to publish and distribute The Vindicator, the biggest and best newspaper in the Valley.
Thank you for your continued understanding and support.
Betty Jagnow, Publisher
Mark Brown, General Manager