The 237-member Chronicle’s pressmen’s union has been given until Tuesday (Aug. 15) to approve or reject a contract that calls for a 1 percent annual pay hike, according to a photo caption in Saturday’s Chron. The 142-word caption, which describes the upper photo, said that scores of members and supporters of the San Francisco Web Pressmen and Prepress Workers Union 4N rallied outside newspaper Friday to protest the labor contract offered by the paper’s management. The union has been without a contract since July 1, 2005. The union argues the paper and its owner, the Hearst Corp., have not negotiated in good faith and have rejected its compromises. Union President Anthony Price said the contract, which offers a 1 percent annual pay hike, provides no job security and undermines most of the union’s protections. Frank Vega, publisher and CEO of The Chronicle, said in a statement that the contract, among others things, preserves the union’s lifetime job guarantees and seniority in the event of layoffs. Last December, the PPC reported that Vega was in talks with an unidentified third party about contracting out the paper’s printing. (Photos by Kurt Rogers, Chronicle)