Monday, December 10, 2007

Save Our Trade: WELL ISN'T THAT INTERESTING

By C. RENEY

I KNOW A LOT OF OUR COWORKERS ARE WAITING FOR NEWS REGARDING THE NEGOTIATIONS ! WELL WE FOUND OUT THAT WE (THE LOS ANGELES TIMES) ARE SEPARATE FROM THE TRIBUNE FAMILY AND IN CHICAGO AND ELSEWHERE THE NEWS PAPER MUST BE MADE VERY DIFFERENTLY. DOES ANY BODY REMEMBER THE VISIT FROM A REP.FROM MANPOWER?DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN WE BECAME F.T.E'S THAT'S THE WAY ITS BEEN GOING. JUST SHORT OF BEING ACCUSED OF TRYING TO BURDEN THE COMPANY BY BEING COSTLY AND HAVING NO FLEXIBILITY. IN OTHER WORDS BASICALLY THE WORDS OF NEGOTIATING IN GOOD FAITH HAVE A VERY DIFFERENT MEANING TO TO THE TRIBUNE THEN WHAT I THOUGHT IT MEANT. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE NOW IS THE TIME WE AS COWORKERS, FRIENDS, LONG TIME ASSOCIATES HAVE TO COME TOGETHER SET OUR DIFFERENCES ASIDE.THE CLIMATE OF THE CORPORATE WORLD IS AS SUCH WE THE WORKERS HAVE BECOME A DISPOSABLE TOOL TO BE USED AND REPLACED AS NEEDED. THE ONLY HOPE WE HAVE TO KEEP SOME RESEMBLANCE OF DIGNITY IS TO BECOME ONE VOICE AND STAND UP FOR ONE ANOTHER. I WISH I HAD SOME GOOD NEWS BUT THIS IS A VERY TEDIOUS PROCESS PLEASE BE PATIENT AT LEAST FOR NOW THE LOSSES OR CHANGES ARE SLOWED. THANK YOU

WELL ISN'T THAT INTERESTING

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

...THE CLIMATE OF THE CORPORATE WORLD IS AS SUCH WE THE WORKERS HAVE BECOME A DISPOSABLE TOOL TO BE USED AND REPLACED AS NEEDED...

Mr. C. Reney,

Corporations approach business no differently than individuals approach business. Both want the most for the least. It's not personal, it's just business.

Let's say you have a gardener, then you find another that does the job better and cheaper. Would you keep the old one for sentimental reasons and continue paying more for less, or would you “replace” him? What if you substituted stonework for your grass? Would you continue to pay the idled gardener every month just because you're a nice guy, or would you “dispose” of his services?

At an incredible rate print skills are being rendered obsolete by computer languages and programming skills. Whether anyone wants to acknowledge it or not, your trade is dying. Given such a reality, pressmen chose a really crappy time to gamble all their chips on the bargaining table.

Workers are only as expendable as their skill sets. Learning, evolving and growing is essential if one wants to remain “indispensable” and “irreplaceable.”