My post regarding my visit to the Los Angeles Times Orange County Production Facility before it closes next year created much ado from the staff at the newspaper at all three Times properties Saturday.
Several employees of the newspaper said they assumed the Los Angeles Times would be producing other newspapers such as the Orange County Register, San Diego Union Tribune, and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune newspapers. Unfortunately the additional work has not materialized.
As with most posts on this blog we have believers and non-believers.
Old OC wrote:
Would you published, on your blog, the company memo that says the OC Plant will be shut down next year? I think I missed it.
Dear Old OC, Would you share the memo regarding the closure of the Times Chatsworth Production Facility with all of us. That’s correct, there was no memo released to employees.
Moe wrote:
An insider told me that the plant was sold to Transcontinental, and the Tribune and Register will contract with them. He also stated that the labor arrangement will shock a lot of pressmen when it is announced. Also, the Register editoral staff will move into the office space and the production employees will run the presses.
Dear Moe, I questioned a manager at the newspaper regarding the Los Angeles Times negotiating with Transcontinental and his answer was a bit unnerving. After asking if the Times had planned to outsource the entire production of our newspaper to Transcontinental he answered “I cannot answer that question Edward”. So I’ll take his answer as a yes.
The Orange County Register has leased office space at the Times Costa Mesa Plant, and they’re also storing newsprint in the Times Orange County warehouse as well.
I questioned eighteen colleagues from Times Mirror Square, Olympic, and the Times Orange County Facility on whether the Orange County Plant would be shuttered. All eighteen colleagues stated the plant would be closing, with the date of closure ranging from December 20th, 2009 through June 2010.
Why do so many employees feel the Orange County Facility will be shuttered, while LA Times management claims it will not be shuttered because we have too many newspaper to produce?
Here are a few of the reasons I see the closure of the O.C. Facility next year:
- The Plant Manager and three department managers laid off on Wednesday, September 16, 2009
- Former Orange County Plant Manager Ron Ernst shared with me that the O.C. Plant would be closed in 2010
- The cut down in width (occurring at all Tribune owned newspapers) from 48 inches to 44 inches has not been scheduled at the Times Orange County Facility.
- The two presses at the Times Olympic Facility that were to remain at 48 inches are now being converted to run 44 inch and 48 inch wide newspapers.
- The majority of production the Orange County Plant produced is now produced at the Olympic Plant, with the men and women that run the presses following the products.
- Two plate setters moved, one to Olympic and one to California Community News, leaving one plate setter at the Orange County Plant.
- Additional newspapers we have been praying to produce for over eighteen months have not arrived.
- The sale of the property in Costa Mesa would pay down a small portion of the debt.
With the Tribune Company bankruptcy scheduled to end on February 28th, 2010 what may happen is anyone’s guess? The two possible scenarios see the Tribune Company remaining intact, or option two; all assets will be sold off.
Not certain which option would be best for Tribune employees?
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5 comments:
...Dear Old OC, Would you share the memo regarding the closure of the Times Chatsworth Production Facility with all of us. That’s correct, there was no memo released to employees.
The question was asked in a "town hall meeting! Point blank! The answer was an ineffable "NO! We've just spent all this money on a color upgrade; it doesn't make sense..."
All you have to do is follow the white rabbit-- present circulation (with some bean counting-- future declines included) divided by available presses (at Oly)... and poof.
Let's not forget-- smoke and mirrors keep all the dim-bulbs lit.
If I remember right they said that will will not have three people downstairs,chatsworth will not close.Well chatsworth is closed three people was the reality on small runs.How many of the brass that told us this still work for the company?
Here you go $.02....
Notice the date of the bulletin below and that the SFV Plant didn't stop printing until Janurary.
http://chatsworth91311.tripod.com/home.html
I ask again, have you seen a Bulletin/memo for OC yet?
Employee Bulletin
December 5, 2005
TO: Times Employees
FROM: Mark Kurtich, Senior Vice President, Operations
SUBJECT: Production Consolidation
Today we're announcing that we're consolidating production at three of our most modern and efficient facilities in downtown Los Angeles, Costa Mesa and Irwindale and closing the Chatsworth plant.
The consolidation will not affect publication of any of our five editions, including the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County editions, or the products and services offered to readers and advertisers.
We deeply regret the impact the consolidation will have on employees, but the reality is that we've invested $500 million to modernize and build new facilities and expand color capacity since the Chatsworth plant became operational in 1983.
Here are the reasons why we're able to consolidate these facilities:
� The more modern plants in downtown Los Angeles, Costa Mesa and Irwindale are fully capable of handling our current circulation levels as well as meeting the future needs of Times readers and advertisers.
� We completed a $405 million press modernization project in 1992 that included the construction of the new downtown Los Angeles Olympic facility and the addition of new color presses at the Costa Mesa facility.
� This year we completed a $46 million color expansion project that increased color ad capacity by 33 percent, giving us more color capacity than any newspaper in Southern California.
� In 2002 we built a $50 million state-of-the-art pre-print production, inserting and distribution center in Irwindale.
The closing of the Chatsworth plant will result in the elimination of approximately 110 positions from across the newspaper's production facilities. We will seek to accomplish as many of the reductions as possible through a voluntary separation package. Non-Operations staff based at the Chatsworth plant will be relocated, and we're evaluating a number of relocation options. It is expected that the transition to the downtown Los Angeles and Costa Mesa facilities will be completed in the first quarter of 2006.
With 11 presses at the downtown Los Angeles and Costa Mesa plants coupled with our production facilities in Irwindale, The Times will continue to have one of the largest investments in newspaper production facilities in the country.
After reading Ronnie's latest posting on this site, I have "arrived at a conclusion":
Ronnie needs an editor.
Hey Moe, I apologize for the typo errors in the last post. The one time I failed to use spellcheck, you got me.
I was tired and needed to respond to the numerous questions your information on Ed's Blog caused, and in an attempt to minimize the phone calls that immediately followed.
In the future, I will shoot my post by former Editors:
William F. Thomas, 1971-89
Shelby Coffey, 1989-97
Michael Parks, 1997-2000
John Carroll, 2000-05
Dean Baquet, 2005-06
James O'Shea, 2006-08
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