Contract approved by Portland Newspaper Guild members

PORTLAND – Members of the Portland Newspaper Guild voted overwhelmingly Thursday to approve a new contract with the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram.

The union voted 120-9 in favor of the eight-year agreement that includes 3 percent wage increases for the next five years. The contract also includes retroactive pay raises of 3.5 percent for every 14-month period since the last contract expired on Dec. 1, 1998.

Employees’ share of health insurance premiums will rise from 10 percent to 20 percent over the next four years.

The union represents about 300 of the company’s workers. The newspapers are owned by The Seattle Times Co. and published by its Blethen Maine Newspapers division.

Blethen also publishes the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville and the weekly Coastal Journal in Bath.

The union and the company spent nearly three years negotiating the new deal.