Thursday, July 30, 2009

Fort Worth Star Telegram announces mandatory furloughs

Mandatory furloughs were announced today at the Fort Worth Star Telegram. A reader posted the email sent to employees today by Von Ceil Evans on behalf of Gary Wortel:

From: Evans, Von Ceil
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 12:04 PM
To: +FWST ALL
Subject: Furlough Announcement

Please Read!
Sent on behalf of Gary Wortel

In March, we notified you that we were planning a one-week unpaid furlough program in the 2nd half of the year based upon business conditions at that time.

It’s been an extremely tough year for everyone at the Star-Telegram and all media in general. Thanks to your dedication and commitment we are seeing improvements in many areas, including online behavioral targeting revenue, classified sales initiatives, retail territory growth and magazine and niche product efforts. With that said, the economic climate continues to be difficult as evidenced by the June unemployment rate of 8.3%. We need to remain diligent in reducing expenses and focusing efforts on growing ad revenue.

For those reasons, it is necessary for us to move forward with implementing a one week unpaid furlough program. The furlough period will be from August 17 through December 27, 2009. Shortly, you will be receiving:

A scheduling form to complete and return to your manager no later than August 10th.

Q & A to assist you in understanding how the program works


Human Resources will be scheduling open meetings to answer any questions you might have. While the documents are comprehensive in nature, we want you to have the opportunity to come with any questions you might have regarding the plan. Those meeting times will be communicated no later than end of business July 31st.

I appreciate your continued hard work and dedication.

Gary


.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

When Bloody Monday happened in June of '08, those of us who got the axe had a saying: "You feel sorry for us because we're leaving. We feel sorry for you because you're staying."

Anonymous said...

"the economic climate continues to be difficult as evidenced by the June unemployment rate of 8.3%."
********************
No need for that sentence. Basically their saying stop bitching and STFU or we will fire your ass and hire one of the many unemployed to take your place.

Anonymous said...

WOULD EVEN McCLATCHY THINK THIS RACIST NEEDS A FURLOUGH?

Wash Times: Democratic Party Official, "Kill Crakkkas; F*** Whitey's Christmas"

Ace Washington Times reporter Kerry Picket has the scoop on a Democratic Party official whose MySpace page is a sewer of racial hatred.

Following up on fellow Times reporter Jerry Seper's report on the Obama Justice Department's dropping of a case of voter intimidation by Democratic party poll watcher and New Black Panther member Jerry Jackson, Picket reports on the vile racist language that gets Republicans run out of town on a rail, but gets Democrats elected to be party officials. In Jackson's case, that means being an elected member of the 14th Ward Democratic party committee in Philadelphia.

Here's a sample of the content on the MySpace page of Democratic party official Jerry Jackson as reported by Picket:

(Jackson's interests are:) "BLACK POWER,BLACK LOVE,BLACK UNITY,BLACK MINDS,KILLIN CRAKKKAS"

"F*** Whitey's Christmas"

A derogatory anti-cop poster titled "BEWARE OF PIG"

A photo of a cop sitting next to a black child in a toy car. Beneath the image the phrase "Racial Profiling: It Starts Early"

Anonymous said...

That is typical of them.

Anonymous said...

How can this be? I thought we were profitable! The guy who likes our company said the stock is going to the moon. How?

Anonymous said...

As part of the Modesto lucky 170 in Sept. I concur with 2:53.

Free packing boxes in the mail room!!!

Anonymous said...

Ill take a furlough over unemployement. I am happy i still got my job. I am happy as a liberal that our government can assist you poor folks whom would rather leach off of people than work for a liberal paper.

its easy to come here and complain, but try getting another job and move on with your life.

Anonymous said...

5:19 PM And you wonder why they hate you.

Anonymous said...

5:19..."its easy to come here and complain, but try getting another job and move on with your life."

First of all PLEASE check your punctuation you liberal newsbe!

Second I have been trying to find a job...that's why America is such a great country...they are sending me back to get some more learnin' sos I kin git a gud job as an editer of some crappy liberal rag!

YOU MORON!

Anonymous said...

5:24 PM Don't even sweat that worm. That is our little McClatchy stock pumping troll spamming all the threads.

Anonymous said...

This would be news if we didn't know for 6 months that it was coming. Move on whiners. We are turning it around without you. You may hate us but we love you because since removing your dead weight we are doing better.

Anonymous said...

same dude.


..oh I was trolling along,
on moonlight bay,
We could hear the voices singing,
troll's here to stay....

Anonymous said...

Whine, whine, whine all day. Bash the president. Bash McClatchy. Bash liberals. You think you're right.

We disagree with you. You call us trolls.

This is why you lost Congress and the White House and why you will not win it back next time around. You do nothing but hurl insults at those that do not agree with you.

You have no shot in 2012 because educated people that live in the big city see you as extremists.

Anonymous said...

You have no shot in 2012 because educated people that live in the big city see you as extremists.




Care to run that by me one more time? Educated? Big City? Uh that would be where the 70% dropout rate is...correct?

Who is this? Is that you Affirmative Action Annie?

Anonymous said...

Biggest "DUH!" moment of the day.

TruthHurts001 said...

"This is why you lost Congress and the White House and why you will not win it back next time around."

This is perhaps the most mindless, idiotic cliche I've ever read in my life.

Anonymous said...

5:52 PM If you are an example of what is left at McClatchy, you all are in more trouble than you can imagine.

TruthHurts001 said...

"You have no shot in 2012 because educated people that live in the big city see you as extremists."

And now for a dose of reality...

People who live in urban areas are disproportionately minorities.
Minorities, particularly blacks and hispanics, are Barack Obama's most loyal voting block.
They happen to also be this country's most UNEDUCATED.
http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:fJBi-Hau2pEJ:www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/05/dropout.rate.study/index.html+%22Most+of+the+dropouts+were+Latino+or+black%22+%22High+school+dropout+crisis%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Anonymous said...

This is perhaps the most mindless, idiotic cliche I've ever read in my life.



I don't know. She comes up with some real zingers. I read some of it's shit and all I can do is picture some strung out droid sitting on it's couch injecting Novocaine directly into the temple.

Anonymous said...

These uneducated, poor bottomfeeders are also allowed to vote (often illegally) by ACORN. Getting them out to vote again will be a real chore for ACORN next time around. We'll be ready.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure Gary writes his own memos and emails. This is how you justify having an administrative assistant when all the other departments are working with skeleton crews.

Copy and paste. Enter +FWST All in address and click send. Pray it was really intended to be sent to "all" and thank your lucky stars you still have a job.

Anonymous said...

... you poor folks whom would rather leach off of people than work for a liberal paper.


This, from an employee whose industry wants the federal government to subsidize it? Hmmmm.

Anonymous said...

This, from an employee whose industry wants the federal government to subsidize it? Hmmmm.




Not to mention state, local, foundations and they've even gone so far as to beg for charity.

Anonymous said...

Cities Where Unemployment Has Hit Hardest (Forbes)

The 10 metropolitan areas where the unemployment rate has risen the most in the past year, according to data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are all major manufacturing centers, many with ties to the automobile industry.
They didn’t seem to have them in any sort of order.

Kokomo, Ind - Run by Democrats.

Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. - Run by Democrats.

Monroe, Mich. - Run by Democrats.

Muskegon-Norton Shores, Mich. - Run by Democrats.

Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. - Run by Democrats.

Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, N.C - Run by Democrats.

Bend, Ore. - Run by Democrats.

Janesville, Wis. - Run by Democrats.

Flint, Mich. - Run by Democrats.

Tuscaloosa, Ala. - Run by Democrats.

Anyone else seeing a pattern here?

Anonymous said...

8:33 PM A rather sobering little tidbit that only a democrat would ignore.

I'd like to see a bill condemning those responsible just so they could vote it down...unanimously.

...Just like they voted down having their health care bill apply to themselves.


...as bill o'riley would never say, "What say you o'leftist pieces of shit?"

Anonymous said...

Modesto just got rid of a couple more.

And for your dose of reality...The Demolitioncrats had control of the white house the last two years Bush was residing there...so the screw up started then, but because the lib rags were trashing Bush, Chenny, and Palin, the tail was waggin' the dog. Good liberal smoke screen. And then there were people in high places in the Real Estate industry and Banking industry that were whistle blowing and yelling that things were not right, but lib rags shoveled it under the carpet and buried it. The liberal rags are their own worst enemy. As they blindly forge ahead leaving a trail of rubble in their wake and fail miserably at reporting the REAL news, this country will continue it's spiral. Most of what's left in the news rooms are over paid managers, newbies that have never had ink stain their fingers and technobots that think the WWW (World Wide Waste of time) is their savior.
(I will cut and paste this rage against the machine again tomorrow for all of those liberals who missed it tonight!)

Anonymous said...

5:19 PM "Ill take a furlough over unemployement. I am happy i still got my job."

Your severance package will be on your desk when you return from your lovely planned vacation. Oh too bad you had to cancel your previous vacation plans...


State of Texas Texas Workforce: Unemployment Claims Services Fort ...
- www.twc.state.tx.us
Fort Worth - (817) 420-1600

Just to help you out a little!

Anonymous said...

Isn't it attention grabbing that furloughs are announced right after a positive earnings announcements and a sharp rise in the stock price.
What does this tell you about MNI's priorities. It seems obvious that employees are not on the radar screen.
Newspapers rest on the skill and commitment of the reporters, production staff and sales team. MNI is disposing of the loyalty of his staff as surely as it's disposing of its assets.

Anonymous said...

How can this be? I thought we were profitable! The guy who likes our company said the stock is going to the moon. How?

----------------------------------

No one said the stock is going to the moon...someone did say $2.15 and last time I checked no one said, wow, good call.

If you have already announced that you might need to take a furlough, why not take it. Screw over the employees more and save more money.

That being said I would expect that every paper that mentioned they were going to take a furlough will implement them, and I would expect that the Sac Bee would likely announce in 3 months that they will do so as well...even after the Vacation burn down.

Anonymous said...

Don't hold your breath. The guy that said it was short sellers was the one that was right.

Anonymous said...

"I appreciate your continued hard work and dedication." Gary

It's time for a McClatchy worst publisher contest. My nomination: Gary "the Weasel" Wortel.
After cutting wages, benefits, pages and the quality of the paper, he implements another wage cut in the guise of a furlough. Oh, don't forget his selling off of buildings and parking lots (while he keeps his reserved spot) and closing bureau offices. But apparently he can't write his own e-mail. Got to have a secretary for that. Only the little people do that. But "I appreciate your continued hard work and dedication," especially while I am destroying the paper so that I can continue to make $50 million in profit a year in Fort Worth to send back to Sacramento to pay off $2 billion in junk bonds. Heckuva job, Gary. Heckuva of a way to kill a paper and kill morale.

Anonymous said...

"The economic climate continues to be difficult as evidenced by the June unemployment rate of 8.3%."
Translation: We're not going to talk about the fact that the S-T makes the most profit for McClatchy of any paper in the chain; we're going to screw you because of the bad state of the labor market and the fact that people are desperate to have jobs.
But thank you for your "continued hard word and dedication." Gary

Anonymous said...

But "I appreciate your continued hard work and dedication," especially while I am destroying the paper so that I can continue to make $50 million in profit a year in Fort Worth to send back to Sacramento to pay off $2 billion in junk bonds.


=======================================
Uh, excuse me, but the truth of the matter is, Junk Bonds are rated much higher than McClatchy paper. In fact, they're several levels above McClatchy paper.

Anonymous said...

Truth is the "sell outs" were the previous owners of the ST, not McClatchy. They didn't give two shits about anything but cashing out. And, I am not just talking about KR. I am talking about any previous owner. Be angry at them, not McClatchy. Better yet, be angry at both.

As for Wortel, he's just doing his job. He's not the master of his universe. The people at corporate in Sacramento, the board of directors and the shareholders are.