Philadelphia newspaper employees planning to strike

Overwhelming vote to authorize strike provisions. One of the main points of contention is health care costs. The ownership wants employees to pay $4,000 additional for individuals and $8,500 for family coverage.

Inquirer, Daily News, Philly.com union members vote to authorize strike - Philadelphia Business Journal

Newspaper union fires back after Interstate General Media Owner Gerry Lenfest introduces profit sharing - Philadelphia Business Journal

Yeah, when they're asking you to pay that much more, might as well just bring the owners down with you when the ship be sinking.

 

What's this "union" they keep talking about ...

I hope for the best for the union workers, but these days, they literally could put the entire paper together in India or Singapore, as long as they can find someone to print and deliver it in Philly. Or maybe a strike will be management's excuse to only produce a print edition two or three times a week.

We'll see what happens.

 

They might just fold the whole thing. Or at least the DN.

 

Yeah, based on the spectacularly plummeting sale price of this newspaper over the last 10 years, we know it has lost almost 90 percent of its value. Probably more than 90 percent by now actually, since the last sale was three years ago. Things aren't looking up.

This sounds like mutually assured destruction.

 

I know a paper that was edited in India.
The copy-editing was hilarious. It was obvious it was edited overseas.

Not that other chains might avoid trying that. But readers can tell.

 

Except for the nuclear option, it sounds like management doesn't have much left to simply threaten the staff with.

Don't go on strike and we'll keep laying you off, slashing your pay and benefits, etc. etc. Go on strike and, uh....

 

I think a strike might mean the demise of home delivery and the union. The owners could fill a website with wire copy and young, cheap staff and generate some cash flow. I don't know if the publishers would bother to try to settle.

 

They'll never be heard from again.

 

This.

 

A long time ago I was part of a team representing employees at UPI and we went through round after round of concessionary bargaining to save the place. You reach a point where you look around and there's nothing left.

 

If management's plan is to end home delivery, the Inky will not be long for this world, either. I'm with Cran. If they're demanding an $8500 pay cut for employees with families, might as well go to the wall and see if at worst you can take them with you.

 

Precisely.

If they put in for a small increase, they might have made a deal. But $8,500? And their executives will probsbly collect bonuses too? Fuhgettaboutit. They might have just pushed their employees too far this time, to the point where they don't care if it does end up costing them their jobs.