The initial number of employees to be laid off is listed as eight, with a more detailed list of positions to follow. It's said these layoffs are separate from the copy desk transfer, and presumably any losses that may occur as a result of the transfer.The transfer reference to here is a proposal to create a single LANG-wide copy desk to be based in West Covina. I posted on the latest rumblings about the plan earlier today.
Feb 13, 2009
Daily News to cut again
The Southern California Media Guild says another eight newsroom staffers could lose their jobs at the Los Angeles Daily News. From the Daily News[room] blog:
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44 comments:
News flash -- first two layoffs are Renfield and Pine.
Yah, right.
this is for daily news layoffs...not san gabe.
It was just a joke. (sniff)
singlton is desparate, he can't bare the thought of losing control of his em. I smell default.
I guess the folks who decided not to stay home when they announced furloughs because they were worried about their jobs must not be worried anymore.
Until they take a stand, this will keep happening and their union is worthless.
ok, can someone tell me exactly what the union does for the members...I understand they are a go between with certain issues, but it seems as far as layoffs, transfers, furloughs etc they are useless.
As far as medianews, other than the employees who suffer most with the current ship of idiots management team, I could care less and am on a countdown of days till bankruptcy. Please just go away.
Grow up, Anony-Rap. This is no longer about you, if it ever was.
Medianews is very close to default now. It's all bad. THe ship is sinking. The consolidation is supposed to stop some of the bleeding. hmmmm. so moving folks to an old crummy building in san gabe from beautiful woodland hills and torrance by the beach. gah!!
"The debt of MediaNews and Morris each is rated Caa3, which reflects a 72.9% chance that the company will not be able to fulfill its debt obligations. Morris already has retained bankruptcy lawyers but officers of privately held MediaNews steadfastly have asserted that the company is in better financial shape than its ratings would suggest."
Very inetersting once again...Belo with Layoffs etc, Tribune, bankruptcy and layoffs and virtually not a peep. Whenever Medianews does this folks go apeshit. I wonder why the others are ignored and good old Dean's folks come out of the woodwork. Could it be that the communication is still, has always been, and forever will be at the other newspapers vs MNG? You would think over time even a blind squirrel would find the acorn in a field of acorn trees.
Sorry, but while I do still read this stuff, I rarely post and never post anonymously.
So somebody picked up on Renfield.
Sorry, Steve. It is about you. I've moved on.
Hey Anon, February 14, 2009 12:31 PM, I noticed the same thing. It's nutsy.
It's obvious MediaNews fostered a hell of a lot more resentment than some of these other campanies have. My former company, Freedom also caused a lot of friction but the MediaNews employees seem far more bitter.
While I understand the reporters are complainers by nature (I am) we all have to ask ourselves, just how difficult was it to work for Singleton?
And is a (gulp) lawsuit in order to get some changes to those working environments?
I guess the folks who decided not to stay home when they announced furloughs because they were worried about their jobs must not be worried anymore.
Until they take a stand, this will keep happening and their union is worthless.
Sure. If people don't go with that asinine sickout idea, then they're weak/stupid/pathetic and deserve whatever they get.
Guess what, you moron - The sickout was childishly stupid, and THAT is why no one listened. But you go right ahead and blame us if it makes you feel better.
Jackass.
it is going to get worse until you guys quit being so scared and take a stand. speak up. stand up.
I wonder what would happen if all the LANG copy editors just said, "Uh-uh, no way, nada, we're not going to San Gabe"? Would they fire everyone? Could they hire enough replacements? Or would they cave? I'm not advocating it, just wondering.
throwing yourself on your sword won't work with this group of morons. They don't care. They don't care about employees. They don't care about readers. They don't care about advertisers. And, they don't care about their own business.
It is like having a discussion with a kamakazie pilot after his gas tank is empty. There is no upside to rational behavior.
Let's face facts, the organization sucks and will only get worse. There is no bright economic outlook on the horizon and when that day comes, MNG will be so far down the toilet on quality people, readers/circulation,advertisers, lack of resources like computers etc. they will be done.
Keep hope alive doesn't work with this outfit.
The sickout wasn't a bad idea. Workers never know exactly how much power they have, and they are so scared of losing their jobs that they won't take any chances at all.
Management counts on that.
You're weak because you're weak.
Of course the sickout was a bad idea. If it was a good idea it would have gained traction. The folks who are left never had a voice and they sure don't have one now.
You can argue about standing up but the dye was cast long ago when good old dean took over control and is managing to kill em all.
The sickout wasn't a bad idea. Workers never know exactly how much power they have, and they are so scared of losing their jobs that they won't take any chances at all.
Management counts on that.
You're weak because you're weak.
Joe, with all due respect, you don't have the first clue what you're talking about.
Actually, screw that. You want to call people weak and blame them for being victims? Then you deserve to be called a retard and a buffoon.
LANG employees know exactly how much power they have. None at all.
As much as you might want to believe in some Jimmy Hoffa wet dream about "taking on the man," those days are gone. What happens if they fire you for doing the sickout? Do you think we can afford a lawyer to sue them? Do you think we should rely on the GWB labor board that's been cutting us to pieces for the last eight years? And what do we live on while that's working its way out?
By what measure exactly do you think acting like a whiny titty baby is going to accomplish anything at all?
Imbeciles like you that waste our time and energy on dead-end symbolic fights instead of pushing a productive agenda are part of the problem, not the solution.
In other words, YOU are making things worse. Mull on that for a while smart guy.
OK, lets say MNG files for bankruptcy. Then what? Do papers close? Do the profitable papers continue? Are they sold off? Is BANG or LANG sold off in part or in whole? What?
I would like to hear some constuctive answers to this, not just a bunch of bashing which it seems nearly everyone wants to do here.
Believe me, I'm just as pissed off as anyone who works for LANG and would love to see some of sort of direction from management.
How can you expect any constructive answers when there is zero communication to employees. Hell, the owners don't have a clue what they will do from one minute to the next, what answers are you looking for?
If they go BK the papers may still operate as they are with even fewer employees. They could sell or close those under water which they should have done a long time ago. As mentioned months ago, why kill those with a decent margin to prop up those who are doomed...like the daily news etc?
Those in power will make the decision at the time that suits them best, not you.
As far as bashing, there has been some solid suggestions in this blog over the past few months. And, if you are waiting for some leadership from this management group, you will continue to wait and be disappointed. They truly don't have a clue on how to communicate, run a newspaper, and sell advertising. But, to their credit, they can spend hours and bad forecasting that is never accurate.
Didn't old Deano come out with some cock and bull note to employees a little over a year ago that was very long winded and mostly forgetable? But, he did talk about the business being a percent of internet, a percent of speciality publications and a percent of print. Wonder how that looks now? I can tell you it has been a large failure in Langland. There isn't a speciality publication that has been launched that has made sense or any real money, most of the online offerings are in the toilet, you still can't place an ad on line through their website with any ease, and their print business has gone south like most others. So much for vision, direction and leadership. What next, a return to our roots and be the best in print...now that's and idea!
any current san gabers out there? who are not disgruntled? can u shed light on how the copy desk consolidation is going?
Anon at 9:15--your use of the words "they" when you talk about failure and "our" when you talk about the return to print is interesting. Way to go, team player.
Anon 8:32 (or management stooge) --
Ridiculing someone for not being a team player is so far beyond decency these days.
If we were on a "team," we'd have some chance to impact policy.
Put it this way. If LANG is a team, we aren't the players. We're the jockstraps.
RE: "I wonder what would happen if all the LANG copy editors just said, "Uh-uh, no way, nada, we're not going to San Gabe"? Would they fire everyone? "
Ponder this one: The Unesys system they use has to be learned by any one coming in new. It take training for that so if all of you don't go, the paper's wont come out at least for a few days until they trained new ones.
Ponder this one too: With all those poeple moving to san gab and doing pages for papers they dont know, have you noticed all the mispellings and errors that a real local person would catch>
Ponder this one three: All you who are laid off and are told you'll get your final payments of accreud vacation and severance package in two week installments, the lay said you have to get paid all the day you are terminated or they owe you a days salary for each day they are late with making your finalpayment. so if you guys were told you got the six-week severance package in two week intervals, youhave to be paid an additional day of salary for all those days they did not give you all the money owed to you. labor code 201, 202, 203 and our union should know that you dumies. even if you quit and give them three days notice, they have to pay you everything on your last day. california labor codes dummys. and they have to post the pay days and times very visibly at work too and they are breking the law.
dude, you have good points but your spelling and grammar is atrocious. hope you don't work for LANG.
Anon at 9:15--your use of the words "they" when you talk about failure and "our" when you talk about the return to print is interesting. Way to go, team player.
If you want to refute someone, but the best you can come up with is some BS junior-Freud word game horseshit, then you should probably STFU.
I'm not the guy, but I doubt he's all that stunned by your biting critique. And I doubt the rest of us are either.
Whine, whine, whine. You people do nothing but whine. Seriously. When a guys suggests you stage a sickout, you all tremble with fear of losing your job...really? I bet you must feel pretty safe now, huh? At the very least you could have stuck it to the man ONCE in you lifetimes.
Even if the sickout was not the best way to go, the idea that it could have cost you your job makes no sense.
Your jobs are in danger if you don't take a stand and do nothing, the layoffs have not stopped.
Yes, your jobs are in danger if you do something, but at least it may bring some real attention to this plight and force some of these idiots in management to deal with the reality of trying to get a paper out without you guys.
To the asswipe who posted:
You're weak because you're weak.
February 14, 2009 6:26 PM
Do NOT adopt Joe Hill's name in vain, you PoS.
very good point..why tremble and be so darn afraid folks? wake up!!!! you're getting screwed anyways. so why not take a stand? You you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. You guys are getting played like a violin. Until you speak up, you are going to continue to get taken advantage of and screwed. More layoffs are on their way. Not to mention the invasion soon.
I suspect someone is posting this sickout nonsense over and over again to try and fake popularity...
Here's a few clarifications for you:
Whine, whine, whine. You people do nothing but whine. Seriously. When a guys suggests you stage a sickout, you all tremble with fear of losing your job...really? I bet you must feel pretty safe now, huh?
Thanks again for calling us whiners. Are you still having trouble figuring out why we don't support you?
At the very least you could have stuck it to the man ONCE in you lifetimes.
Grow up already. I don't care about sticking it to the man.
Even if the sickout was not the best way to go, the idea that it could have cost you your job makes no sense.
Your jobs are in danger if you don't take a stand and do nothing, the layoffs have not stopped.
Impending doom in the future beats certain doom today. I'd rather focus on finding a better job, than waste time pissing up a hill so you can feel like a stud.
Yes, your jobs are in danger if you do something, but at least it may bring some real attention to this plight and force some of these idiots in management to deal with the reality of trying to get a paper out without you guys.
You think there's no attention to what's going on? People know, and some of us are already working on the problem. The difference is, we're trying to actually make a difference, not just bully Dean into submission. Go look at the history of MediaNews and see how well that's worked out in the past. It hasn't. Ever.
There's a right way to get things done, and a wrong way. You don't win a fight against a stronger opponent by standing up and going toe-to-toe. You win by playing smart.
well, certainly not by shaking in your boots like you guys are. too afraid to take action. too afraid to call out sick. too afraid. of what? you will lose your job anyways?
for gawds sakes, MOBILIZE!!!!
Newspaper reporters, editors, press people ... they should be taking a few tips from the Teamsters. MOBILIZE!
Why aren't newspaper staffs and unions fighting mad?
Change the Newspaper Guild Model Now !!
Lets be Honest even if everyone does " mobilize " the union is the one to blame for all the shitty contracts they sign and the fact that they separate contracts and don't make one big one is a joke. The ILWU fights for workers from the costly West Coast to the Delta, to the East coast, no matter the cost of living. The all walk out together.
Bottom line is that for the past 15 years it has let over 17,000 newspaper jobs slip away, the Newspaper Guild has failed miserably. They should have seen this coming and fought this early. But no they have cast off journalist or office secretaries running the show.
TNG President Bernie Lunzer invisible !!!! he should be on the loading docks yelling a t the top of his lungs!!!!!! all I hear and have heard from both Lunzer and former TNG Prez Linda Foley is crickets.
I think TNG hs thier head so far up Obama's ass the can't hear our cries for help.
To anon at 8:08...you aren't winning!
sitting around waiting on the union doesn't seem to be working and if you think the economy is going to turn around any time soon, forget it.
At least your union should be arguing that those who take furloughs will get the money back at some point with a bonus.
While you are out "sick" you could be looking for another job.
Of course you cant bully dean into submission, but he sure the hell can bully you guys.
as they say in poker, the employees are all in and hold a losing hand. Medianews is all in and holds no hand.
More of this Teamsters crap? Gimme a break. Aren't the teamsters getting the everloving hell kicked out of them by Zell right now?
As far as I know, the ILWU and the Guild are on good terms, and if you can't see why there's a difference between individual newspapers that each have their own contract negotiated out over decades of bargaining, and a nationwide contract with a warehousing company, then methinks the problem might be that you're an idiot.
You make a lot of assumptions about what the union is and isn't doing.
Most of them are wrong.
The guild is a harmless and irrelevant cult, absorbed in its quirks and rituals, its rhetoric of being a factor even as the facts clearly show, it ain't. And even if it were or had been, it's pointless now, given the decline of newspaper industry and exit of owners.
If the union is so harmless and irrelevant, why is MediaNews so scared of them? Do you have any idea how much time, money, and effort they spend keeping the union out of their other newsrooms?
They're scared shitless of the Guild. That's fact.
Folks, is the guild as effective as the pressmans union that did such a stellar job in preventing the closing of two printing plants at Lang within the past couple of years?
The union issue is bringing out a lot of ugliness in everybody. If you're not a union fan, then you're not a union fan.
I wasn't either. Until I was hacked with no notice and a pittance for compensation. I likely would not have been given that compensation if it had not been made acceptable by the unions. These "teamsters" these “bastards” that don't yield the power some in this message or demand of them.
But my opinion is that they're small efforts are more than what the majority of us are doing.
And to hell with some of you who are "Just pull yourself up by your bootstraps and find another job," or “don’t waste your energy on this … spend it on your resume…”
A few of us were stupid enough (yeah stupid MUST be the word) to believe we would spend the rest of our professional lives as journalists. Some people enjoy journalism.
And some of us believed it when our fearless journalism leaders told us our papers were making progress on the transition to the Internet. We knew it wasn’t the great progress they claimed to be making but we thought it was some kind of progress.
The unions may not have all your answers but they provide representation to some of us, at least those of us who are (or were) tired of getting shit on.
But if you're not a union fan, then you're not a union fan. Pretend those pro-union messages are for those, what did someone call them, unpopular posers?
And to those pro-union people., try not to be as ugly as the others. Being jerks is not helping
Don't worry folks, the high level meetings taking place now over the next couple of days will come up with all the solutions for medianews' ills. I'm sure the brain power in that room will fix all the wrongs that the brain power in the room caused over the last year. It sure gives me a high level of confidence. Maybe they could carve out a little time to tackle world peace.
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