For Hamilton to hastily order furloughs to be taken over such a short period of time indicates just how much pressure the company must be under to boost its bottom line before the end of the fiscal year (June 30). Indeed, Hamilton says in the same memo that LANG employees will be able to take an additional 5 paid holidays in the next fiscal year to make up for the short-term pain.
This leads me to wonder if this dramatic, last-minute action is related to a possible deal to buy the Orange County Register. LANG's parent company, MediaNews Group, is in a bidding war with the Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, to buy the Register.
It's also likely the chain is simply trying avoid further layoffs, given the revenue demands of some of its investor owners, who agreed to swallow $765 million of debt as MediaNews emerged from bankruptcy last year. The furloughs and vacation freeze come a week after layoffs at the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Hamilton said the latest actions should keep future pink slips to a trickle:
...today's action does not preclude other cost reduction measures including and not limited to reductions-in-force. At this time such actions will likely be limited and will continue to be an expense reduction alternative until the economy and our performance measurably improves.The full memo is here.
As expressed in the past, we regret any inconvenience this action may cause you but until our financial challenges are clearly behind us, such actions are necessary.
(This post was edited)
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61 comments:
How does he keep his job?
So let me get this straight. In February, LANG staff took 5.5-percent annual pay cuts. This was on top of the 10-day furloughs, which are really wage slashers and equal a 4-percent cut. Now LANG staff is taking a 2 percent cut for this 5-day furlough...So in all, since Feb., LANG staff salaries this year will drop 11.5 percent! Ouch!
Bastards/
So much bullshit, so little time...
Hey, they will get the time back next year when their financial challenges are behind them...what a laugh. Just like the federal govt defecit spending plan.
If the economy comes roaring back for newspapers, which it won't, they will still be in worse shape.
Hamilton keeps his job due to the fact he isn't a threat to anyone he works for. Please give me one idea he has implemented that has made money...just one.
Their newspapers are a crime scene, just put up the yellow tape.
@6:37 -- you forgot about the cuts in vacation accrual both earlier in the year and during this period, too. So it's more than 11.5%. And if you're an editor the pay cut was 10% instead of 5.5%. Talk about kicking people when they're down...
Come on Eddy, save the Register from the zombies.
Neither one will save the register. One will be worse than the other...what a fate awaits.
More ready, fire, aim. I guess they didn't see their current results coming the last eleven months or so during their fiscal year. Maybe time to get new bean counters in the organization.
If this helps get their financial house in order, it will be an order of chaos. Nothing will improve until their sales organization in print and online sells something new and innovative as well as their existing products. Do you want to hang by the balls of your feet waiting for that miracle?
I forgot, their stellar management group will save the day.
When will the employees have to pay to show up for work?
Ahh, good times had by all at LANG/MNG these days!
If you are currently working at LANG and are reading this.... GET OUT!
There are better jobs than this.
can anyone say groundhog day, the newspaper. what a shock, furloughs, layoffs, pink slips, no vacation accuring, pay cuts, makes me want to rush out and sign up for some of that.
don't worry, if you miss this episode, it will be returning shortly.
Hey there Freddy Hamilton, you have a better chance at peace in the Middle East than improving your performance.
If Aunt Dean wins the rights to the Register after pulling this constant garbage, seriously, just close up shop.
We at SGVN are losing people as the layoffs has already started in the Credit dept. All of the credit dept in going to the bay area. In the last month we lost 4 people. And now we just got furloughs. :-(
11:16, I feel your pain. However, it isn't like it is a surprise. This has been going on fast and furious for nearly four years if not a bit longer. Press room closings, print outsourced, consolidation several times of copy desks, artists, graphics, etc etc. Hang on our look elsewhere. As tough as that is, that is your and your colleagues choice. At some point, they will be so screwed up, they will just implode the entire structure .
Thanks MNG, for keeping things honest!
I sure hope that the Register merger is going to make more efficient and effective newsrooms with solid rededication to LANG, MNG and the quality of our product.
Makes me want to get up in the morning, jump into a brisk shower, eagerly put my pants on with both legs and race to work to start a brand new day at a Media Newsgroup office with renewed vim, vigor and pride! Whoa, I gotta stop talking now and hurry up so I can get in early! Where's my Kennedy tie and trusty wing-tip Florsheims? Grab my Louis Vuitton attache case, give the little wife a peck on the cheek, hug the kids and hop into my Chrysler 3000. Life is GOOD!
The rumor is that there will be no deal to get OCR and so the hope of consolidation is gone. Therefore, back to cutting heads.
efficient and effective...what are two words you have never heard before regarding MNG/LANG.
For those of you still under the MNG/LANG banner, how many people there are actually looking for a new job and how many appear to be going down with the ship?
Do the new owners really believe that this group can repay them and be profitable?
My goodness gracious, I just saw the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy having a burger at In and Out.
Miracles do happen...right!
Gary should set up a hotkey to autopost these LANG furlough announcements. It might come in handy as they become more frequent.
It's a shame there isn't a union to step in and guide the remaining employees to organize.
What's the only drawback to a union? Having to pay dues? Union dues would have been a whole lot cheaper at this point than the pay cuts, vacation freezes and furloughs.
Are the remaining employees doing anything to help themselves?
2:07, do you really think a union would have prevented this mess? It didn't prevent the plant closings, outsourcing of printing and a host of other injustices that happened on the union watch. The union was a fangless watch dog and what is left is the proof of their impact.
Before you resort to letting me know I hate unions, I don't. In this case, lack of success speaks louder than words.
A union certainly wouldn't have made things worse.
I'm guessing a large reason the union has remained toothless in LANG is because the company has been successful in keeping it from spreading throughout the entire group.
Had all the newsrooms come together, employees would have had much more leverage than they do now.
It's more difficult for the company to outsource editorial than it was for printing and production.
Sure, the copy and design desks can (and probably soon will) be shipped to India, but reporters and metro editors and photographers are not as easy to outsource.
I know for fact that the company was terrified of newsroom unionization. I sat in meetings where it was discussed.
That's all I needed to know to come to my conclusion that it's probably a good thing for the rank and file workers.
As for LANG's promise that next fiscal year workers will get an additional 5 paid holidays in exchange for 5 days furlough/vacation now ... I've got a bridge over Terminal Island I would love to sell you. The way these guys operate, come Sept. 1 there will be another memo saying "We really really really wanted to give you those 5 days, but our numbers are not where they should be..." You know it, I know it ... and they sure as hell know it. Promise them anything, but give them nothing.
You won't be able to convince me that unions would have left employees in any better position. That is pure speculation and a case could be made that they might have made it worse. Do car companies ring a bell? They might have been terrified of newsroom unionization as you say but nothing ever came of it. They downsized the newsroom, shortchanged readers and advertisers and left employees with a giant wedgie. We all know unions are not match for a giant wedgie.
Bringing the giant wedgie into the discussion is no fair. Everything is powerless against a giant wedgie.
You're reference to auto manufacturers is less moving.
It's not a matter of unions necessarily being good or bad. It's a pendulum.
In the case of auto workers, you had unions protecting employees who were receiving bloated wages and benefits for doing jobs that were easily outsourced. The power had swung too far in favor of the unions. Not unlike what is now happening with public employees.
At LANG, you have employees who are working in borderline abusive situations and are clearly being taken advantage of.
The need for a union couldn't be stronger.
That's not to say that workers wouldn't have to make some concessions given the state of the industry. But at least a union would give them a seat at the table and a fresh pair of underwear when the hard times came.
I don't agree, although some of your points move me. However, the fact that you recognize the power of the giant wedgie is good enough for me to appreciate your point of view.
LANG takes the "rob Peter to pay Paul" concept a step further. LANG robs Peter, stabs him in the back over the years, finally shoots him several times, dumps his body on the 405 Freeway, then makes Paul do his job while outsourcing the jobs of the other disciples, cuts Paul's pay, takes Paul's vacation time away, promises Paul a better future, leaving Paul to sit at his desk and pray for his sanity.
I still don't know why current staffers at LANG/MNG put up with the BS they are handed.
Most are mature adults with years of knowledge and academic degrees but lack common sense.
Put LANG/MNG in your rear view mirror and move on!
FYI, 8:16, we stay because we enjoy the luxury of having a roof over our heads and food to eat. If you think it's easy to find a job out there, think again. Don't be so dismissive of those of us just trying to survive while we search for another job.
Glad to hear/read that current staffers are looking for another job/career.
I thought people within LANG did not see the abuse that people outside of LANG have been witnessing for the last few years.
There is life outside of the newspaper biz.
How about the luxury of being respected for your contributions? How about the luxury of a paycheck that isn't diminished over and over again because your managers are useless? How about the luxury of getting benefits that you were promised just a few months ago? How about the luxury of not being lied to again and again by same managers. How about the luxury of going to work and actually being appreciated?
Yes it is tough to locate a newspaper job...but, it can be done. I am pulling for you, because , if you have any talent, it isn't respected at LANG...even during the better years.
Good luck finding a job that pays well and where hard work and talent are appreciated in 2011. It's a new world, not just for journalists, although it probably sucks more for us than many others...
what a dolt. as if getting closer to the calendar fiscal end makes it go quicker than if it was 6 months ago. should have said something like, a solution to our troubles continues to elude us, so rather than replacing those of us who caused the trouble or continued to flounder in an attempt to solve it, we have decided, using all of our great wisdom, that you should have worked harder. Because you didn't, you must now pay again. Thank you for understanding again, and rest assured, we will be having further chats down the road.
At least they regret any "inconvenience."
they regret nothing regarding their employees other than they want to pay them less if at all.
Gary, can't you just copy and paste the comments from the last time LANG did something? It would save everyone a lot of time.
I'm sorry for all the dedicated employees, but a few days off won't make much difference for some at the Daily News.
The city editor is never there anyway, and when he is, all he does during work hours is talk about his favorite flavors of pot. The Executive Editor should just put up a permanent sign on her office that reads "Gone Golfing," because that's all she does anyway, and when she's in the office, she's just so aloof.
She doesn't recognize the talent she has, only the talent she thinks she should recognize because she's so afraid of criticism, which by the way, she's only too happy to hand out to the wrong people.
To those of you still there: I have much love for you. And that's why I tell you: Please get out.
There's no reason for you to still be there.
Yes, the economy is tough and jobs are hard to find. Especially if you're looking for another middling job at a mediocre newspaper. Those are gone. And the major metro dailies aren't going to hire you.
So look elsewhere. See what's available. If you don't have the skills for those jobs, do what you must to start developing them.
Too many of you have been sitting on your hands for four years now waiting for some magic opportunity.
In that time, you could have learned new skills or earned a new degree to make yourself more marketable for a new career.
Ask yourself, are you taking steps to make yourself better off a year from now? Two years from now?
If not, start. There is no life preserver coming your way. Only more furloughs, pay cuts and sadness.
Why don't you mind your own business?
Yes a lot of these comments are much like others when lang gives another round of BS on why more pain is needed. One needs to be remindd of the lunacy this firm operates in.
By the way, a number of comments are missing...still tech issues?
These are always good for a smile unless you are impacted by the fools.
I receive the comments in my email, so hadn't checked the thread on blog. I'll look to see if any have gone missing - if there are technical problems, it would be Blogger's fault.
1:21 .... Bland obvious clueless sanctimony.
There are quite a few comments missing.
10:45: no need to cast stones, my friend. sounds like you work in west covina. no comment. let's not get started on that. and funny how you hide behind anonymous.
1:21: you have stated it the best. right on point. that's really the issue here.
honestly, 1:21 has summed it up best. nothing more to say.
3:24: you must still work there and this must have really hit home for you.
Oh c'mon, 1:21 is a pompous aZZ. "I have much love for you" .... give me a break.
So what if MNG/LANG is really creating these lay offs and capital to buy the OCR?
How many of you would or would not be surprised if the purchase does happen?
do you really think these furloughs and layoffs are creating dollars for them to buy? they are a bankrupt organization, mismanaged, and the pennies they are saving, which they are not, would have trouble purchasing a big mac. unless a capital infusion of new dollars happens, or the register pays them to take it over, these current pathetic efforts will fail. what the hell am I talking about, if they do buy the register, it will continue in the same direction as lang...the wrong direction.
bunch of comments gone
Media News and the Register have the same largest stockholder - Alden Global Capital. So if Alden can satisfy its junior partners, it is simply merging its "portfolio." Though bankrupt, both Media News and Tribune set aside a large "cash on hand" fund to buy things. So they stiff their vendors, stiff their employees but still have a bundle to throw around. This is the way corporate games are played.
Even though Lean Dean is not at the head of the table, his way of doing business is still evident.
1:21 is a ...
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll
now you all just wait for lang to do something noble and well thought out for employees...just wait.
Leaving a LANG paper for a job at a better paper run by reasonable people was one of the better days of my life.
Glad to hear reasonable still exists at newspapers. Even though economic and tech forces are clearly solid headwinds, management can make a difference. However, not in langs case. The group is beyond hope. Come of people, doesn't anyone there have a pair?
Since when are there "flavors" of pot?
8:54, don't know anyone here who isn't looking for a different job. People are leaving faster than they can hire them.
Shocking news. People actually looking for a job with a future, wow. I wonder if the executive team is looking? Nah, that would be good news.
Fred Hamilton has finally been fired. Now, start at the Daily News and send the Publisher, Executive Editor, Marketing Director and The 2-headed monster of Advertising Directors to the junk yard and replace them with people that don't bleed news ink and the organization might just do something worth writing about.
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