About 500 managers and non-union workers at The Seattle Times are being asked to take a week off without pay as financial troubles mount.
Company spokeswoman Jill Mackie says workers can take the time off in a weeklong chunk or a day at a time between now and February. She said she didn't immediately have details on how much money the Times expects to save.
It's the latest in a series of dire steps by the company, which has had three rounds of layoffs this year.
The Times is run by the Blethen family, which holds a 50.5 percent stake in the company. The rest is held by McClatchy Co.
Note: the AP headline and the first sentence says workers are being "asked" to take a week off without pay. But the Sacramento Business Journal sees it differently -- their headline, more in line with reality, says the workers are being "ordered" to take the week off. Hat tip: Walter Abbott
More details at KATU.com:
The Times has cut nearly 500 positions in the past year, leaving it with about 1,410 full and part-time employees. Executives have warned that more job cuts could be coming next year, and Fardella wrote in her memo that The Times would be asking for concessions from unions representing the newspaper's workers after Jan. 1..
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4 comments:
-500 workers at Seattle Times to take week unpaid-
….500 managers, non-union workers at Seattle Times to take unpaid week as financial woes mount….
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I’m guessing the union workers are not necessarily the best in their trade, just protected. Perhaps if everyone participated, the unpaid time could have been less for everyone.
There was an article about the Eastern Airline union mechanics' striking as the airline went bankrupt. Does anyone see any resemblance to that decision, and what the ‘Dead Tree Media’ unions are doing now?
The union at the Seattle Times has been preparing. Here's a post from October: Guild pesident at Seattle Times bracing for layoffs
Try to get a seat in a Seattle coffee house now with 500 furloughed jagoffs writing their big breakthrough novels on their laptops.
Unions are the worst employees: SEE DETROIT AUTO INDUSTRY.
They are a thing of yesterday and do nothing but help a business go out of business.
Keep up the union meetings, that is all you will have to do with your time. Stand on the table and scream "WE WON!" but the problem is no one is listening.
F--- UNIONS!
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