From the memo:
(Read the complete memo here.)For those with 40 or more hours in their vacation bank, simply take a week of vacation. Because we are heading into the summer months when most people utilize their vacation time, this option should prove to have little or no impact on the majority of employees. For those with less than 40 hours in their vacation bank, you can do a combination of both options. An example for a full-time employee who works 40 hours per week; you have 24 hours accrued vacation, you can use your three vacation days PLUS take two unpaid furlough days to equal the total five-day requirement. For those with little or no vacation hours in their vacation bank, you will need to take unpaid furlough equaling five days. Non-exempt employees have the option of spreading their furlough days over several pay periods or they may take all of the time off within a one-week period. It is up to you, but the time must be taken by September 26. Exempt employees who do not have the equivalent of five days’ vacation in their vacation bank do not have the option of combining vacation with furlough. If you are exempt, and do not have at least one week of vacation, you must take a week of furlough. Your week of furlough must be taken at one time (all within the same week), and you cannot perform any work during that week. This requirement may not apply to some sales positions, so if you are in advertising sales, please see your manager for guidance.
LANG also plans to extend a vacation freeze instituted last April, which means employees won't be able to accrue anymore vacation time until at least the end of September.
When LANG, which is a division of Dean Singleton's MediaNews Group, first announced the vacation freeze, it encouraged employees to use their vacation days as soon as possible. Those who heeded that advice are probably regretting it.
*Update: MediaNews Group also sent out a press release today to knock down rumors that the company was considering a bankruptcy filing. The company says it is negotiating its debt with lenders, but adds that: "Proposals to the company's lenders do not include a change in control of the company, nor do they include proposals for any bankruptcy filings, as the rumors suggest."
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49 comments:
LANG announces employees must work for no pay. That's where this is headed.
Sheep to slaughter. LMAO Told you to jump ship when you could. Now, all you are the musicians on the titanic.
Seriously, what's the point in even commenting on this stuff any more? It's bad followed by worse, month in and month out, and all on the backs of employees. What other profesional industry doesn't allow its employees to accrue SOME kind of vacation time?
What misleading headline. How pathetic you are little Gary.
no surprise here. why anyone stays is b/c they can't do better. it ain't gonna get better folks. ONLY more takeaways and more extentions. do ya'all realize you are really making NOTHING now? there is not future here. get out and fast. of course unless you can't do any better.
5:55 what is misleading? don't see anything misleading here. LANGers RUN fast and stop bending over and taking this.
rumor has it that next is pay cuts. so basically you are working for peanuts when all is said and done. sad pathetic
5:55 -- Spoken like a true MNG manager!
forgive my ignorance: what papers does this affect? and if it's LANG papers, which is a division, does the decision NOT affect other MNG papers?
7:14 are you serious??? it says LANG. LANG LANG LANG. the LANG division.....daily news, san gabe, torrance, long beach, ontario, san bernardino, redlands
I don't know yet whether papers outside of LANG might be affected.
thank you Gary. 7:28 made me feel even worse for not knowing but yes, I was also curious about other MNG papers.
well, 7:43, if you worked in LANG you would know the answer to this. since you don't, this doesn't affect you. so why care?
gee the vitriol. Didn't think it would bother anyone that I asked. The answer? I work at a non-LANG paper, and I do have friends in journalism, and want to be aware of their situation.....without asking!
I wish you and all the other affected folks all the best.
If you go back to the beginning of 2007 you will be able to read what the posters said about this day. I would say 90% of the so called rumors have come to pass.
It was bad enough before Little Eddie was hired. As Ron Kaye said better than I ever could, he killed what was left due to a lack of talent and ability.
The newspapers within LANG will not recover in their current state.
Less revenue, circulation, and more layoffs or reduced pay or furloughs or ????
I think I'd be praying to get laid off right about now, just to get a break from all the insanity.
agreed. it ain't gonna get better and folks should be making other plans instead of being a sitting duck. also, just getting older and having no future. the more you work for lang, the less off you are and just getting older and less employable somewhere else.
The union guys at the Press-Telegram said no to the last furlough. It was 2 weeks after getting a contract.
It's like lending money to your drunk uncle, you know you will never see it again. Oh and will that money be building a better product? Nope
The comments of 6:09 p.m. are overly simplistic. I worked in LANG and now I'm somewhere bigger. It's not a matter of these folks not being talented enough to do better. There aren't many publications hiring, ya know. Also, some LANG employees may be stuck here because of their families. And changing careers is easier said than done.
Life brings along difficult choices. If you see the handwriting on the wall, and in this case, if you are nearly blind you should be able to see it, a choice is necessary.
Do I stay and keep putting up with poor management that will still be poor if things improve? That would be the best that can happen. Or, do I look for work in the field, and yes the opportunities are limited, but, at least you are being proactive.
This company makes work unpleasant, causes emotional pain, and, there is no end in sight.
Sometimes circumstances dictate putting up with this, if you can find an alternative, you sholud just for your mental health.
Anonymous said...
What misleading headline. How pathetic you are little Gary.
JULY 1, 2009 5:55 PM
I see one of the trolls attacking Gannettblog has decided to move over here. Get a life.
"Praying to be laid off?" You may want to think twice about that one...I'm rounding three months without a job and I'm praying to see any type of work!!
The "get out while you can" crowd are idiots. Shut up with that already. Seriously? This is your advice? You don't think that everyone in LANG would jump at an opportunity for something better?
Have you looked at the state's unemployment rate? Instead of parroting the same tired line every time there are cuts at LANG, why don't you post some of the job openings we should all be jumping at.
Maybe some good state jobs? Or, how about all those openings in universities and city halls? Or maybe a nice job at GM?
If you happened to find a way out, good for you. Do you really gain satisfaction from coming here and gloating at those of us who have not yet? Why such hostility for hard-working journalists stuck in the trenches?
That makes you a bottom-feeder who preys on the misfortune of others, just like Dean Singleton.
Congratulations on being part of that crowd.
Now go away.
Thank you!!!
6:59 a.m.: I agree with your sentiments, if not your hostility.
Many of us love being journalists but haven't yet figured out what other career would work for us. That is, if any other fields were even hiring. Certainly there's nowhere else to go within journalism.
So all those of you who jumped ship early on and are now doing PR or political work or whatever, thank your lucky stars that you found a job on the outside. Don't think those of us remaining can't read the proverbial handwriting on the wall. It's clear as can be; we just haven't figured out what to do about it.
In the meantime, we're still hardworking reporters and editors trying to do our jobs, so have some sympathy and some respect. Please.
I'm not going to sit here and advise people on what to do because I don't know what's best. At the same time, LANG and MediaNews is a sinking ship and it's only a matter of time before it hits rock bottom and everyone's out of work anyway. A tough and no-win situation indeed.
6:59 and 8:17: Thank you. I still work for LANG, and while I don't like what's going on with the company, I still like the people I work with. We are all hard-working people, stuck with each other either by choice or by circumstances and we make the best of what we're left with. To all of you who have managed to get out, you used to work with us, you know we're not stupid. So please show us some respect. You don't hear us insulting you, do you?
Jumping ship without a parachute is insanity. Working in LANG was never that good even in the best of times. The benefit of sticking it out is that you're buying yourself more time. There surely will be wave after wave of more layoffs, but you're better off being hit later than sooner. If you can stay employed until the end of the year, you've run out the clock on this crazy economy, plus you get a year of unemployment benefits after that. If you have something solid to move on to, then by all means go for it. But don't just quit because working conditions suck or you hate Singleton, Janiga and MediaNews, or you'll be on the street with no unemployment benefits.
11:49 while i agree with you wholeheartedly, the only thing that scares me about people hanging around the sinking ship too long is the clock is ticking and they are getting older. and as you know, older people are less employable. so it is an issue. whereas if one gets started now on their future and moving on, they will be much more ahead of the game and have a future. Let's face it, LANG is a dead end. and if a person gets too old, it's hard to find a new job muchless a whole new career. has anyone thought of using the time to go back to school? my coworker/friend at the DN did that and he's now in another whole career and doing much better. all i'm saying is...folks don't run the clock down too long b/c you just get older and it's much more difficult to find a new job muchless a new career when you are older. it's a FACT.
I was praying to be laid off when I worked for Singleton way back in 2001. I couldn't imagine it getting any worse back then ... this is so depressing. I really feel for those who still are there.
BTW: There is money to made copy editing and writing online at DemandStudios.com. It's legit, albeit a form of SEO marketing. So there's a "real" job listing for y'all. Good luck.
Nearly 18 months of this crap and people act surprised. The economics of this business suck and will not get much better. This company even in good times was difficult. Best of luck to all those in the industry and this company, especially those with limited options.
Every paper that MediaNews has touched has turned to stone. If it isn't obvious they bought the papers to bring them down than nothing is.
The get out while you can crowd are idiots?? Hope I am never in a burning house with you.
The idiots are the people that think this is somehow related to the economy and don't realize newspaper revenues have been dropping since 1999 or so.
Don't be mad at people telling you your house is on fire. Too bad no one said it 10 years ago.
hate to disagree with a rational point of view, but, a number of people predicted, and accurately the end of newspapers. Classified competition on line was the final blow. The highest margin business is history. Newspapers don't know how to compete. In the best of times they took orders. There was talent in sales and management but far to little.
Not to mention the demos of people who don't and won't subscribe and all the self inflicted death blows that newspapers have brought on themselves. Start with the brilliant minds at NAA. Then take a look at who is running your publication. Not to many I would want to follow up a hill.
A long way to say the demise of newspapers was predicted in the mid 1990's. No one wanted to believe it.
Singleton owns papers to kill them. Pure and simple. The proof is in all of the solid publications that are now mere trash, or out of business. A guy with a bank account like his filing for bankruptcy is a joke. The main reason he bought the papers was for the real estate.
Greed kills, always.
Anon 9:58:
I said it the first time, and I'll say it again. Yes. Idiots.
The people who are still at LANG are there either because they choose to be or haven't found a way out yet.
Either way, what we don't need is for people like you to say "get out while you can" every time there's a financial hiccup. Stop wasting our time with that pap. Say something constructive or shut up.
Some people still have a passion for journalism. There aren't many journalism jobs left in the world. Many of those still left feel lucky to still have one.
The "get out while you can" crowd obviously miss it enough that they wait on pins and needles for every new MNG memo to come out so they can rush to this blog and rehash their same tired line.
If you're out, be glad about it. We don't miss you. Now get on with your life.
Let's hope that those who are still in aren't out in the near future because of either more layoffs or Lean Dean finally pulling the plug because he has no more real estate to sell. Good luck.
if this wasn't such a sad business, most of the above would be funny. dean does not give a crap about any employees. never has, never will. he doesn't care about journalism. never has, never will. he wants to be a star. never has, never will. and for those among you who think the newspapers are better with him than without, you are wrong. better to die once than with ten thousand cuts being tortured waiting for the knife to fall.
The problem with Dean is that he never cared about journalism. He saw the value of selling the Daily News and Press Telegram properties for big bucks and shuffling the crews all over the place in temporary buildings. Even if the employees fit, he'd cut to make extra space. When there are no more non journalism resources to make money on, he'll sell off the papers for a buck a piece and laugh all the way to the bank.
LANG sucks, just deal with it and stop calling people bottom feeders, your bosses are the ones that feed off the bottom.
Deal with it.
no raises for two years? all of the takeaways? do ya'all realize that you're basically working for free and just getting older in a dead end gig? there is no future folks. things are NOT going to turn around. have the foresight to see this and stop hanging on. feel sorry for the folks still stuck in LANG b/c they can't do any better. "if one CAN do better...one DOES better..."
I like that: "if one Can do better one Does better"
actually a good thing to remember no matter what career or situation you're in.
reminds me of one of my favorite sayings, "if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got"
good luck everyone. PS. It's not just in journalism, it's everywhere
I am not a MediaNews employee. I am no longer in the industry and haven't been for years.
Others here have said the same. The hatred toward this company stands alone. Name you newspaper company and you never read this type of venom directed at management/owners.
Now, please don't get me wrong, based on some people who have and do work there, a number of the comments are well deserved.
It is just odd that the Los Angeles Times, Gannett, etc., do layoffs, pay cuts etc., and you read a few comments, but, nothing like this.
My conclusion, MediaNews brought it on all by themselves.
I continue to find it interesting that Gary refuses to acknowledge that his significant other is a LANG "bottom feeder" who supplies him with the memos and other fodder used to beat up on management and employees on this blog. Perhaps Gary will engage in the kind of forthright journalism he tried to extract from others but has no intention of practicing himself.
I continue to find it interesting that LANG management doesn't fess up to the fact that they're getting help for nothing with no incentives to employees and unemployment hanging over each employee. Ordinarily you get what you pay for but there are a lot of talented people being screwed over by Lang and Lean Dean.
if you are not there to get screwed, you don't.
When you get pay and vacation cut and then have to take unpaid vacation with no hope in sight, you're getting screwed.
"I continue to find it interesting that Gary refuses to acknowledge that his significant other is a LANG "bottom feeder" who supplies him with the memos ..."
How typical of a LANG manager to use a term like "bottom feeder." What else should we expect from these arrogant sorts who don't respect the average worker and can't even summon some appreciation and goodwill when he or she leaves for greener pastures or, more likely, gets laid off.
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