Boston Globe is not cutting jobs, but wants to cut pay 10%

In this economy, he has a point.

 

I believe that mentality is something corporations wield as a subtle psychological weapon against their employees - the idea that they are doing you some sort of charitable favor by employing you.

 

Lot of students I knew went to college to party, to avoid manual labor, to stay on mommy and daddy's dole and to avoid growing up. Back in the day, some went to avoid getting shot at, to avoid shooting at people or to avoid authority of military obligation.

The unwritten rules used to be that a better standard of living, compared to high school grads, went along with a sheepskin. But all sorts of unwritten rules have gotten ... uh ... rewritten. Especially a bachelor's degree now is just the new "floor" for a lot of jobs -- and a graduate degree seems superfluous (except in medicine or law) or even cloistered and out of touch.

Buddies of mine who went to work right out of high school and nailed down sweet union wages, pensions and retirement benefits, or learned a craft at a juco, are better off right now than a lot of B.S. and B.A. holders. Especially better off than the journalists.

 

I did my share of partying in college too.

Thing is, for your generation, there were still union jobs. Now, the majority of those jobs have gone away. I remember reading that only 8 percent of all private sector jobs are unionized now, compared to 40 something percent in the 1950s.

Most journalists know they aren't getting in the profession to get rich. But in this "work smarter, not harder" era, it's pretty insulting to have to take a paycut to keep your job while the people who were getting rich in the newspaper business didn't have the foresight to save some money for the difficult times. What were they getting paid for, anyways?

 

In a year, It will be a favor.

 

the darkest hour is just before dawn.

a year from now under president obama gas will be $3.50 and there will be an exit strategy and the economy will awaken. not to say newspapers will recover, but the country will.

the ex-imbecile-in-chief and Cheney and Rummy will be writing their memoirs

 

Interesting how different the logic is than at my shop when we had our last round of contract negotiations. The company actually gave writers and copyeditors raises while slashing the pay of editorial assistants. We thought that was ludicrous and we offered to take a pay freeze, or even cut, if necessary, to maintain the salaries of the already overworked, underpaid support staff. The company's response essentially was that it wanted to keep reporters' and editors' pay high to attract good people from around the country. Although it went unsaid, the other part of that was, "We can get trained baboons to be EAs."
It was a very offensive contract offer that, remarkably, our union accepted (I voted no) because of a threat that if we didn't accept it, the next offer would be worse.

 

Nobody is forcing you to work in the newspaper industry. If you have your degree, then why don't you go do something else. I understand that you "love" this job, but if it's making you miserable then why stay?

At least you have an option. I didn't go to college, but I've still managed to forge a career in journalism. When this business goes completely under, I'll be up shit creek. So yes, I'm grateful just to have a job.

 

I'm sorry, but anyone with that attitude is selling themselves and everyone who does this way, way short.

 

Then go to school. :

If you don't have enough self-worth other than to think you should be "grateful" for your job, that's your problem. But don't begrudge people for trying to get something more out of their careers.

 

It's not an issue of self-worth. I'm very fortunate to be well compensated for my work. I like to think that I'm good at my job, and of course I think I could/deserve to make more money. I'm not trying to stop anyone from making more money. There just comes a point where you have to look around and realize, "Wow, I'm lucky to have a job." Just ask some construction workers, guys in the timber industry or anyone else right now scrambling to find work. I think they'd gladly take a 10 percent pay cut versus losing their job.

I've stood in the unemployment line, and I know that helpless feeling of not being able to find work. So many journalists thing they're owed something just because they went to a nice school or they work "hard." Trust me, what we do is far better than what most people do for a living.
If you want to make what an investment banker makes, then become an investment banker.

 

I went to college to become the best journalist I could, nothing more, nothing less. I certainly didn't go for the partying.

I think I'm doing that, and I love that I'm doing that. As long as I make a wage I can survive on, I'll be happy. I think I could definitely survive on $72,000 at the Boston Globe were I in that situation.