THIS AGREEMENT made as of this 18^th day of January, 2003 between the Michigan Catholic Company, a corporation (hereinafter known as the "Publisher"), and the Newspaper Guild of Detroit, a local chartered by the Newspaper Guild (hereinafter known as the "Guild"), for itself and on behalf of all the employees of the Publisher in the editorial, commercial (including advertising, business, and circulation departments), and miscellaneous departments, including all the employees of the Publisher, excluding, until November 1, 1977, members of recognized craft unions in the mechanical department, and those hereinafter provided for in Article IV.

In an effort to effectuate the principles set forth in the Papal Encyclicals on the organization of labor, which declare the moral right of employees to self-organization, to collective bargaining, and to a living wage, the parties agree as follows:

ARTICLE I.

GUILD SHOP

1. The Publisher shall require as a condition of employment of any employee, that they be and remain members of the Guild in good standing during the term of their employment. If any employee be not a Guild member at the time of their acceptance of employment, they shall become a member of the Guild within thirty (30) days after the date of signature of this agreement, or within thirty (30) days after their becoming an employee of the Publisher.

2. The Publisher shall furnish, in writing, to the Guild a week after their employment, the names, addresses, telephone numbers, dates of hire, salary, formulas, to the extent they exist, for other forms of compensation, and contract classifications of persons hired after the effective date of this contract and covered thereby.

ARTICLE II.
checkoff

1. Upon an employee's voluntary written assignment, the Publisher shall deduct from the salary account of such employee on a weekly basis and shall pay to the Guild on a bi-weekly basis, all membership dues levied by the Guild for the current month.

2. The Publisher shall notify the Guild of any changes in classifications or step-ups in years of experience affecting any employee.

ARTICLE III.

MANAGEMENT'S RIGHTS

1. The Publisher retains the customary rights of management to direct its employees and operate its business. “Customary Rights of Management" shall include all rights to manage and direct its employees, and the right to manage the departments and all its operations and activities. These include the right to determine the methods, personnel, procedure, means, equipment, and machines required to provide services to its customers consistent with other relevant terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Also included is the right to hire, fire, promote, and discipline employees consistent with other relevant terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

ARTICLE IV.

PROBATIONARY, PART-TIME, TEMPORARY, AND CASUAL EMPLOYEES

1. Probationary employees are defined as newly hired employees who have not successfully completed a three month (90 day) probationary period. The Publisher shall have the right to terminate the employment of a probationary employee at any time during the probationary period, with or without notice, and with or without cause, except for union activity. Probationary employees shall be represented by the Guild for purposes of collective bargaining with respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other terms and conditions of employment, excluding discipline, discharge, or termination for reasons other than union activity. Upon successfully completing the probationary period, an employee shall be entered on the seniority list and credited with seniority from the date of hire. There shall be no seniority among probationary employees.

2. Part-time employees are defined as persons regularly employed on work of a part-time nature for less than a full workday and/or workweek.

3. Temporary employees are defined as persons employed on work of a temporary nature, to whose tenure of employment a definite limit is set by the nature of their work.

4. Casual employees shall be defined as persons whom the Publisher may, from time to time, pay for casual duties of an irregular nature.

5. Part-time, casual, and temporary employees shall not be employed on work normally performed by, or on work which could practically be performed by a full-time, permanent and/or regular employee. Part-time and temporary employees shall not be employed where, in effect, such employment would eliminate or displace a regular or full time employee.

6. Part-time and temporary employees shall be covered by all the clauses of this agreement. Casual employees shall not be covered by this Agreement nor considered as within the bargaining unit of the Guild. Part-time employees shall be paid on an hourly basis equivalent to the weekly wage minimum to which they are entitled by their experience.

7. Temporary employees may be employed for a special project or for a specified time, in either case not to exceed three (3) consecutive months in any twelve (12) month period (such three (3) month consecutive period may be extended by mutual agreement between the Company and the Guild) but not to displace or replace regular employees. For example, temporary employees may be employed for vacation coverage, during employees' sick leave, to fill in vacancies created by promotion, or fill in for employees on leaves of absence. The Guild shall be notified in writing as to the nature of each temporary employees' employment. A temporary employee who becomes a permanent employee will have their actual hours worked as a temporary employee credited to them for purposes of seniority, experience, vacation, sick days, personal days, and pension.

a. Temporary employees are covered by this Agreement and will be paid at the wage minimum based upon their individual experience and job classification, but are not entitled to any of the fringe benefits provided in this Agreement except that they shall receive holiday pay for all holidays occurring during their employment, after sixty (60) days worked.

b. Temporary employees shall not acquire seniority.

Part-time employees shall not be scheduled to work less than four (4) hours in any day. A part-time employee shall not be employed where, in effect, such employment would eliminate or displace a regular full-time employee. Part-time positions shall not be created in order to eliminate or avoid the necessity for creating full-time positions. Part-time employees shall be paid on an hourly basis equivalent to the wage minimum based upon their individual experience and job classification.

ARTICLE V.

EXCLUSIONS

1. The following executive heads are excluded from the application of this Agreement: Editor-in-Chief, Secretary-Treasurer, General Manager, Advertising Manager, Circulation Manager, and Managing Editor.

2. Members of the clergy assigned to the staff of the Michigan Catholic by the archdiocese shall be covered by all terms of this contract, except where the regulations of the Catholic Church and/or the local ordinary conflict, then the regulations of the Church and the local ordinary shall prevail.

3. The Publisher, by agreement with the Guild, may during the life of this agreement create additional managerial or executive positions, not now covered by this agreement and not specifically excluded therefrom, which shall be exempted from the requirement of Guild membership. In the event the Publisher seeks to create such a position, that by reason of managerial or executive character should be excluded from the requirements of Guild membership, the matter shall be determined by an arbitrator who shall be selected by the Publisher and the Guild. The Publisher and Guild agree that final and binding arbitration shall be administered by the American Arbitration Association and governed by its rules and regulations.

4. The jurisdiction of the Guild is the kind of work either normally or presently performed within the unit covered by the contract, any kind of work performing similar functions as the kind of work either normally or presently performed in said unit, and any other kind of work assigned to be performed in said unit.

ARTICLE VI.

WAGES

1. The wages of current employees, except for commission sales people, shall be increased across the board during the life of this Agreement as follows:

Effective January 18, 2003	2%
Effective January 18, 2004	2.5%
Effective January 18, 2005	2.5%

Hours shall be 35 hours per week. All work schedules shall be posted two (2) weeks in advance.

2. The minimum wages for employees are attached as Exhibit A. In addition to their wage, full time employees on the payroll when the paid circulation of the newspaper (a) first reaches 35,000 paid subscribers shall be entitled to receive a one time bonus of $500 and (b) first reaches 50,000 paid subscribers shall be entitled to receive a one time bonus of $1,000. The one time $500 bonus and the one time $1,000 bonus shall be payable on the 15th of the month following the month when the paid circulation first reaches 35,000 or 50,000, as the case may be.

3. Sales people will be paid commissions on ads published and paid for. Commission sales people will receive a base salary of $450 per week. Commission payments will be added to the base salary after they have first covered the base salary. The amount of commission on established business will be $2.50 per column inch. An additional commission of $.50 per column inch will be paid for a period of one year (beginning from the date of the first ad published) for ads published for new clients after February 15, 2003. Ads using spot color will receive an additional commission of $15.00 per ad; those using 4 color will receive an additional commission of $40.00. The commission for sales below the level of 80% of the rate card price will be reduced by a ratio matching that of the ad price compared to the 80% level. (E.g., an ad sold at 40% of the rate card price is sold at half of the 80% level and so receives half a commission.) Ads paid by trade or barter will not receive a commission. Insert orders will receive a commission of $8.00 per thousand up to a maximum of $400 per order. Inserts from the same client that appear in different part of consecutive or near-consecutive issue mailings will be counted as one order. The commissions earned in each quarter will be paid in equal amounts, divided among the paychecks of the subsequent quarter. Sales personnel who are no longer employed by the publisher will receive commissions on their sales collected for 90 days following the last day of their employment. To phase in the new commission structure, during the first quarter 2003 ad sales personnel will continue to receive paychecks in the amount determined under the old agreement. For determining compensation that will be paid during the second quarter of 2003 only, commissions for ads published before February 15, 2003 will be computed using the commission formula in the old agreement. After February 15, 2003 commissions for ads published during the remainder of the first quarter of 2003 will be computed using the column inch formula set forth above but that formula will be applied to the amount of column inches sold irrespective of whether they have been collected. The parties acknowledge and agree that there will be no attempt to reopen the determinations already made concerning sales made, published or collected prior to the date of this agreement and that there is no money owed or to be paid to the commission sales people other than as set forth in this agreement.

4. Employees shall receive the current IRS rate of $0.36 cents per mile, with adjustments to be made annually on the anniversary date of the contract to comply with the adjusted IRS rate. Employees shall specifically document and track their mileage and submit weekly mileage reports. There shall be no reimbursement for commuting mileage. The new mileage rate shall become effective on the date of signing this Agreement.

5. During the life of the Agreement, eligible employees shall receive the then current Michigan Catholic Conference medical insurance coverage on the following basis:

a. The Publisher shall pay in full single subscriber coverage. In addition the Publisher shall pay in full for spouse and family coverage if employee elects to be covered by Blue Care Network (or other substituted health maintenance organization).

b. For other than single subscriber coverages the employee shall pay 25% of any increase in the monthly premium cost above the monthly premium cost in effect on October 28, 2000 through January 17, 2003.

c. Beginning on January 18, 2003, employee shall pay 50% of any increase in monthly premium cost above the monthly premium cost in effect on January 17, 2003 for other than single coverage or coverage by Blue Care Network (or other substituted health maintenance organization).

d. Employees shall have the option to waive their health insurance coverage and receive a $1,500 annual opt out bonus which shall be payable in quarterly installments of $375 to those employees who exercise this option and are on the employer’s payroll on the date of payment.

6. The MCC Blue Cross dental program shall be paid, on behalf of employees, entirely by the employer. An Employee may add family and spouse dental coverage at employee’s expense. Additionally, all employees shall be enrolled in the MCC Group Life Insurance Plan providing term life insurance equal to annual earnings. If the MCC Group Life Insurance Plan is terminated, the Publisher and the Union will negotiate a substitute provision paid for by the Publisher.

ARTICLE I. GUILD SHOP

ARTICLE II. checkoff