Friday, March 07, 2008
Thirty-one Pressmen Axed at Los Angeles Times
Over the next few weeks the exact number of pressroom employees leaving the Los Angeles Times Orange County and Olympic Production Facilities will be clarified. According to the Negotiating Committee the Times will be shedding thirty-one pressroom employees, with six leaving the Olympic Facility, and twenty-five axed at the Times Orange County Facility.
Four of the employees from the Orange County Plant are utility workers in the pressroom, with the last of the Chandler Family (Phillip Chandler) among them.
The twenty-seven pressperson positions eliminated represents a ten percent cut in staffing at the two Times Plants, with the Orange County plant taking the largest hit. The employees receiving pink slips have the lowest seniority, based on pressroom seniority, not company seniority.
The atmosphere in the Times Olympic Pressroom is a somber one, with employees attempting to comfort one another.
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24 comments:
I'm very sorry to hear this.
Why so many at O.C.?
Are they being offered the same package as the Editorial folks?
Anonymous#2 if you read one or two more times it says why so many in OC !!!!!!
Anonymous #4
You might want to read it again as the original post has been changed!
Anonymous#5 since you arent capable of reading copmrehension apparently, this is what its says :
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The employees receiving pink slips have the lowest seniority, based on pressroom seniority, not company seniority.
Where did the figure of six from oly come from?? OC has all the lowest seniority people here???
So much for the union saving jobs! I can smell a decertification coming a mile away.
does this mean less crews manning ?and are they cutting crews ?
Decertification would be the stupidest thing to do.
These hacks would cut us to the bone.
Sure decertify the union. That will show Zell and everybody else you are weak and wont stand up for yourself or anybody else .Next comes reel tenders and a cut in pay !!!! I say you reap what you sow.Think about it.
Anonymous said...
Decertification would be the stupidest thing to do.
These hacks would cut us to the bone.
WTF!!!!
Are you out of your mind??!!!
Are you living in some sort of strange drug induced fantasy land?
The union has done nothing to stop this latest reduction in force, all the union has done is to ensure that it's members will most likely not be included in the VSP; and instead of getting the standard package, two weeks for every year worked up to fifty-two weeks total, the union members will probably end up with a much skimpier package. Not to mention the pay cut the union's inner circle has been bandying about.
No, decertification would not be the stupidest thing to do..... you've already done that.
"The union has done nothing to stop this latest reduction in force, all the union has done is to ensure that it's members will most likely not be included in the VSP; and instead of getting the standard package, two weeks for every year worked up to fifty-two weeks total, the union members will probably end up with a much skimpier package. Not to mention the pay cut the union's inner circle has been bandying about."
RIGHT ON!!!!
I wonder if the Union will step up to the plate and take responsibility for the fact that 31 "brothers" got screwed because of their actions?????
Management knows that the union vote only passed by a small percentage. They also know that the senior pressmen are a lot of small-minded, seniority-driven men who don't see the bigger picture in this situation. Their strategy has been to stall contract negotiations and generally make the union leadership look bad. Their goal is to have the pressmen decertify their own union and thusly seal their own doom.
You guys don't have a prayer because you are a bunch of self-serving, brain-dead yahoos. If you did have brain cell one you'd hang on to your union and hire professional negotiators to advance your best interests. But you won't.
The party is over. Enjoy your pool tables while you can.
Exactly what is the bigger picture in this situation?? We came to a gunfight with a cap gun. There is no threat whatsoever of a strike here. The union has no real negotiating power. The union cry has been "keep what we have" Well it is now painfully clear they cannot even do that. They want us to pay dues of around 70 a month for staff cuts??? Good Luck on that one.
The union can't keep what you've got and you won't be able to keep what you've got even after the union gets voted out. Why? Because the big picture here is that all you pressmen want to get more and do less. With the business going downhill, the economy going downhill, and the fact that you are overpaid (compared to the rest of the market) you are going to have to do more and make less.
But you guys won't do any such thing because you have made a career of hanging off the LA Times tit. LA Times titty babies is what you are. It's funny to hear you guys rationalize that you are really worth the kind of money you make. You might be if you had the cleanest pressroom with the most highly trained pressmen and printed the best copy in the business. The actual situation is that you don't have any of that because you are lazy, spoiled, poorly trained, and have horrible leadership. All of the above goes for the shops too.
Save our trade -- don't make me laugh. It should be Save our entitlement.
It seems that making no money at all, is more important than taking a paycut. What a "Union".
In response to comment 16 you really dont know what you are talking about. We have a lot of talented pressman that have been dedicated for decades. And have sacrificed and worked alot of holidays and bad scheduling for this great newspaper. Knowing that is part of our trade in this industry. As for the pay we are just surviving living in one of the most expensive areas in the USA. So anonymous if you would like to debate with me man to man any time. REGARDS Rick Satterlee
Ed-
I'm sorry to hear about yet another cut for news folks, whether it's in production or editorial. You've always been a great friend of the LA journalism community and it's a real shame to see things end up this way. Hang in there and best of luck.
-Brent Hopkins
Yeah, Satterlee. Wouldn't be much of a debate because you aren't much of a man.
First of all I would like to say Thank you for the words of encouragement from those who did ! But for the “nay Sayers” Pay attention Just recently thousands of Latin Americans took to the streets to protect their love ones ,did the I.N.S. show up “NO” right now congress is trying to appease them. It wasn’t that long ago when farm workers banded together just to get better pay and conditions. Now go back years. Iron workers, Auto workers, Dock workers Now press men and women. Millions of people Band together to protect themselves from greedy Company’s and owners of companies’ "Us" the Union can’t always stop cut backs but together we can make dam sure its done fairly and justly. "Us" the Union can make sure the workers are treated fairly and payed fair wages. All it takes is resolve and numbers.Tell your bosses you are unhappy with them.Tell the Tribune ,Tell Zell he cant ignore all of us !!!
“WE” THE UNION can do !!!
Brent,
I wish you the best in your new line of work, I'm certain you will do well.
How about “greedy” unions. Where have the Iron worker’s and auto worker’s jobs gone? What has the union done to help save these jobs? Wake up and understand how business works!!!!!!
Wake up to how business works?
We did. We saw bright boy Willis sell off everything that was't media related to concentrate on our core BUSINESS!
Kept everything that went down.
Then flat lied that he didn't know that there was an Ehical wall between Jounalism and the BUSINESS side.
We saw him walk away with a Hundred million for running us down.
Then Chicago ran us down and the executives were rewarded for their supreme BUSINESS management.
We have seen the same clowns come and go over the last 30 years.
All with the same song and dance.
Give me a chance, what was done in the past is over and behind us,
can I sell you some hope while I get ready to inflate my resume during my 3 to 5 year stint.
We've seen enough how business works.
Yea I know, I'm the new owner- Now get the Fuck out!
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