tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293Wed, 04 Sep 2024 21:55:03 +0000Ideas, information, news and opinion about happenings in your workplace and around the company.http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)Blogger329125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-3637869960869868197Mon, 22 Dec 2008 23:42:00 +00002009-01-05T10:28:54.734-08:00The Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild was named last week to the creditors' committee in the Tribune bankruptcy filing. The committee also includes Merrill Lynch Capital Corp., JPMorgan Chase Bank, Deutsche Bank Trust, Warner Bros. Television, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. and Vertis. The Guild's inclusion on the committee follows its success last week in securing Tribune's commitment to http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/12/guild-gets-seat-at-table.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-4666248038541542562Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:37:00 +00002008-12-09T17:07:52.890-08:00The Guild at the Baltimore Sun responded quickly to yesterday's news with a bulletin letting its members know what the Chapter 11 filing means to them. Also, according to this Chicago Tribune report, "The company has 180 days to come up with a plan the bankruptcy court accepts. Failing that, the court will consider competing plans from creditors and others."Time to draw up competing plans. At http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/12/as-with-sale-union-retains-certain.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-1846574127250441132Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:39:00 +00002008-12-09T16:52:59.556-08:00Today Tribune became the first major news organization to file bankruptcy. Since Zell made his bid to take over the company in early 2007, there was no shortage of expert opinion (summed up nicely here) that the complex plan under which he took the company private was risky and that employees would shoulder all the risk.The guy who put up just $315 million of his own funds to engineer the $8 http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/12/zell-hell-realized.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-3640472694008935730Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:40:00 +00002008-10-08T11:03:13.455-07:00Bad enough that times have gotten tougher at The Times with the seemingly endless rounds of staff cuts, senior management exits and a pending lawsuit, but today LA's media watchdog, LAObserved felt compelled to issue a warning to Times staffers: according to sources, their not-so-new publisher is calling it "treason" for employees to share information about stuff going on inside the paper.LAO's http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/10/big-boss-is-watching-you.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-3693659546470908197Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:25:00 +00002008-10-06T18:44:14.841-07:00Seventy-five more editorial positions are being eliminated at the LA Times. Kevin Roderick at LAObserved reports "Newsroom staffers are being told today individually and in department meetings that as many as 75 editorial positions are being cut through voluntary departures and layoffs. Some staffers were approached last week about volunteering, "enticed" with the threat that this will be the http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/10/cuts-run-deeper-at-lat.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-4957750572283431641Sun, 21 Sep 2008 21:35:00 +00002008-09-21T15:15:20.100-07:00Times columnist Dan Neil and Phillip Gregory, one of the attorneys representing the employees' lawsuit, was interviewed Friday on KPFK's "Deadline L.A." Listen to it here."We want Zell and the Board removed," said Neil. "We want an independent accounting of the company's finances, especially with regard to the pension and we want a say in the future direction of the paper." The lawsuit also http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/09/times-columnist-on-lawsuit.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-9141595879475860333Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:10:00 +00002008-09-18T12:25:48.406-07:00Sam Zell thinks the lawsuit is frivolous and unnecessary: "We are partners and we need to act like it" he wrote in an email to employees yesterday. Zell admonishes Tribune employees, saying that he and they are "all in this together."The suit may be more than a shot across his bow. The law firm representing (former and current) LAT staffers wrote (Romenesko Memos): The current and former Tribune http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/09/zell-blasts-partners-employees-law-firm.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-3284165994479505711Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:20:00 +00002008-09-16T14:38:32.924-07:00From LAObserved : "... lawyers representing current and former Los Angeles Times newsroom staffers are filing a class-action federal lawsuit against Sam Zell and Tribune this morning in Los Angeles, alleging breaches of fiduciary duty, conflicts of interest and other violations of ERISA, the law that safeguards the proper handling of retirement benefits like pensions and trusts."Interesting http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/09/employees-in-la-file-class-action.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-5174295280750466666Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:45:00 +00002008-08-14T21:03:41.024-07:00Do something! Head out to Los Angeles to sign the petition on TellZell. Then maybe start your own: get your readers to support you and your newspaper. It's your company, and TellZell reasons that if you want a seat at the table you need to do something. Furthermore, you should take action (even if its simply signing a petition) because its "important to our readers, to community leaders, to http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/08/dont-just-sit-there.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-3232537492820724724Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:17:00 +00002008-12-10T17:02:17.076-08:00Tribune declined an invitation to appear on today's Democracy Now! for a round-table discussion on the state of the industry. The program was hosted by Juan Gonzales, columnist at the New York Daily News and co-host of Democracy Now! with guests Newspaper Guild-CWA president Bernard Lunzer (pictured at left), Chris Hedges, author and former foreign correspondent for the New York Times and Linda http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/guild-prez-on-zell-industry-and-union.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-6403748917802235806Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:54:00 +00002008-12-10T17:02:17.610-08:00 The folks in LA are mad as hell and InkStainedRetch has words and pictures to prove it. Members of the newsroom staff have an anonymous agitator in Retch, who regularly pleads and prods staffers to fight back against the ill-fated business decisions that is destroying The Times. TellZell"Here's what the Retch is proposing. We fight back with Paper Cuts. We protest, in ways big and small, in http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/raising-zell-hell-in-la.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-1208226032657268869Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:29:00 +00002008-07-24T12:58:39.843-07:00As part of their community outreach campaign, Guild members at the Baltimore Sun created a video ("Tribune Cuts, We Bleed") last week to protest Tribune's continued dismantlement of Baltimore's paper of record by slashing 100 jobs there. The rally and production and distribution of the resulting video is concerted activity protected under the National Labor Relations Act.In his e-mail to staff http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/tribune-cuts-we-bleed.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-7105142104981265854Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:24:00 +00002009-02-05T16:22:17.798-08:00Maybe you're not ready to attend mass meetings or even one-on-one for a cup of coffee today, tomorrow or next week. But by the looks of the number of hits and page views to this blog, there's no doubt that many of you are looking for information; searching for answers to questions about the union. So we've put together a compilation of our most frequently asked questions about The Guild and the http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/you-asked.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-4281534556132402984Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:25:00 +00002008-12-10T17:02:17.912-08:00A fair number of LAT staffers met with us at The Redwood last night to learn more about how they would form a Guild at The Times and what to do next. Not surprisingly, many of the questions reflected great concern about the direction the paper is headed and what it is they can do about it now – and in the coming weeks and months once these layoffs are behind them.Thanks to all who stopped by and http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/meet-me-in-la-again-soon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-499786955468987368Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:10:00 +00002008-07-21T10:55:52.119-07:00At your request, we've scheduled an informational meeting in LA for interested Times employees tomorrow, Tuesday, July 22 at 6:30 p.m. at The Redwood Bar & Grill, 316 W. 2nd Street, just a short walk from The Times. We have reserved Redwood's private room and we'll be available to talk with you and answer your questions through 9 p.m. See you then!http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/meet-me-in-la.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-845726495682206412Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:02:00 +00002008-07-18T19:07:32.125-07:00Because it didn't get the numbers it needed from its ranks, the Baltimore Sun pink slipped 11 editorial staffers: 3 reporters who volunteered to be laid off, 4 editorial assistants, 4 interns and 5 advertising sales persons.The 44 newsroom staffers who applied and were accepted for the buyout will leave by August 1. Those laid off have the option of going out now or August 1.The total loss for http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/sun-sets-for-16.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-364263120016439595Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:20:00 +00002008-12-10T17:02:18.095-08:00Inspired by the protest rally scheduled for today in Baltimore (along with encouragement from us and promoted by InkStainedRetch), Tribune employees in many departments around the country wore black in honor of the employee-owners laid off throughout the company. In Baltimore today, more than 200 people gathered outside The Sun to express their grief and outrage at the loss of 100 talented http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-long-can-this-keep-going-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-2305907549192672928Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:25:00 +00002008-07-15T21:05:01.639-07:00The Guild has put out a call to action for a rally in front of The Sun at noon Thursday – Black Thursday.To Sun employees the rally is an opportunity to honor their talented, experienced colleagues, protest the circumstances of their departure and "let the community and our bosses know how much these cuts hurt us, our livelihoods and the community that depends on us."Tribune employees everywherehttp://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/wear-black-thursday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-3066287351926566520Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:18:00 +00002008-07-14T19:58:29.121-07:00Thirty-four Guild members have applied for the buyout and another ten non-Guild employees are rumored to have applied, but the number is short of The Sun's goal of shedding sixty newsroom positions by the end of August. Notification to those approved for the buyout will begin Friday – as will the layoffs.The buyout terms are similar to the package offered at other papers, however the Guild http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/buyout-numbers-fall-short-layoffs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-8284101659283687183Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:00:00 +00002008-12-10T17:02:18.132-08:00Anne Marie Lipinski, editor of the Chicago Tribune since 2001, has resigned. E&P has her memo to staff announcing her upcoming departure. I began my editorship seven months before 9/11 and in the seven years since have become accustomed and even comfortable with editing and managing through crisis and change. But professionally, this position is not the fit it once was. Personally, my family http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/ct-editor-quits-is-lat-publisher-out.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-1149144228954826788Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:04:00 +00002008-07-13T19:16:43.220-07:00Zell has a personal interest in making sure the debt payments are met: Last year, he paid a mere $315 million for Tribune, then valued at $8 billion — $225 million of which was a loan that has to be repaid (with interest) at $250,000 per quarter – to him. Tribune Two-Step suggests that Zell may be making the cuts "because he needs to trim down expenses to ensure he can make payments ... to http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/whats-in-your-best-interest.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-2874633280945644952Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:16:00 +00002008-07-11T16:25:04.720-07:00— The list of 150 at the Los Angeles Times who will lose their jobs is almost complete. Staffers got word that the firings will begin next week. In today's memo to staff (here at LAObserved) editor David Lauter wrote that putting the list together is "painful, sad work, and we're trying to do it with as much care as we can". Not sure that's going to be very comforting to the hundreds of staffers http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/friday-shorts.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-5399094189765601502Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:15:00 +00002008-07-09T15:44:09.387-07:00Jobs will be lost in other departments as well, but the total loss to the Chicago Tribune newsroom will be 80 positions. Because some of those positions have been left unfilled recently, between 55 and 58 current staffers will be fired. All will be out by the end of August.Wonder how much Zell and his top guys are making? You'd think with the company (and the industry) in such dire straits, the http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/chicago-80-in-newsroom.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-1871807770642712008Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:30:00 +00002008-07-03T11:18:21.023-07:00Two hundred and fifty company wide will loose their jobs and the cuts to the news-gathering staff will amount to a 17% reduction there. Bad news. Though expected, it's bad and worse still because most cuts will be firings that could roll on all summer. Who know's when you'll get the tap on the shoulder. Brutal. You can be sure the company is going to go slow and tread carefully so as not to http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/07/la-150-editorial-staff-over-2-months.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6695838968478238293.post-6410996685204795700Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:52:00 +00002008-06-30T12:17:43.358-07:00A Chicago Tribune staffer now worried about getting sacked, says he drank the poison Kool-Aid and bought into what Sam Zell was selling him. "I even wanted to believe Lee Abrams was the innovative genius he purported to be." Disappointed and maybe a bit pissed-off, Tribune Twostep remains hopeful. Instead of investing in the future, they are divesting. They are stripping the company and its http://tribuneemployeetalk.blogspot.com/2008/06/another-partner-hits-blogsphere.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0