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D-Day at our shop

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by spikechiquet, Apr 16, 2009.

  1. spikechiquet

    spikechiquet Well-Known Member

    Everyone's hours/pay cut 12.5% (35 hours a week max now for FTers)
    No company pay-ins on 401K
    Insurance rates will go up, most will have to pay about 50 bucks more a check

    We were expecting 1 or 2 week-long furloughs, we basically got six weeks off (240 hours a year taken away) instead, but no chance to file for unemployment this way. The "positive" is no one was laid off.

    Oh, but we still have the same news hole to fill. Lucky us.
     
  2. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    Sorry. At least you are getting time off with your pay cut?
     
  3. If you play in the band and want to keep performing until the last minute to soothe the nerves of your peers, then maybe get another part-time job. If not, make a break for the life boats now.
     
  4. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    Our best to you, spikechiquet. As much as furloughs stink - and there's no defending their use in an industry that must produce a product on a daily basis for its customers without fail - they're better than this.

    Hang in there - better yet, get outta there and into something a little more stable that actually treats employees with dignity and respect.
     
  5. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    That's really bad, spikechiquet. Get out if you can, and if not, hang in there.

    I know, easier said than done.
     
  6. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    No, I think the point was that they're not. They're losing five hours a week, rather than 40 all in one fell swoop.
     
  7. GlenQuagmire

    GlenQuagmire Active Member

    Give me your company CEO's work address. I'll take a dump in a box and mail it to him.
     
  8. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    At least they cut five hours off your work week. There are papers that would just cut the salary and insist you work your 40 anyways.

    Good luck.
     
  9. mediaguy

    mediaguy Well-Known Member

    Do they really think people will scale back their work five hours a week while doing the same job? Or just get paid for five hours less each week?

    Even the people who actually come in an hour later each day, do they have something to show for that hour? It's not 240 hours each year -- it's an hour a day. You're still working a five-day shift, you're still accountable for the same work. It's a sneaky way to pull off a six-week furlough without the perk of actual time away from the job in appreciable portions.

    You're not going to be 12.5 percent more efficient, you're just going to be paid 12.5 percent less.
     
  10. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Then it will take the employee to tell their boss, "Sorry, I only had seven hours to get my work done today. Had I had an extra hour, I would have gotten the work done."

    The rate this industry is going, employees are going to lose their jobs anyway. Besides professional pride, why work for free?
     
  11. Fredrick

    Fredrick Well-Known Member

    This is where employees at this paper right now need to monitor their hours and start putting together paperwork for an upcoming lawsuit.
    They are telling you to work 35 hours. We all know in sports you work 50-60 and get paid for 40. Now they are insulting you even more saying "work 35."
    The editors are still going to demand the same production from you. They will tell you not to take dinner break or scold you for pausing 15 minutes to watch extra innings of a baseball game on TV during a dead period on the desk.
    Something has to give and you all should monitor every hour and contact a lawyer for your impending lawsuits.
     
  12. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    Damn, that's about as rough as it gets. Good luck to you and everyone at your shop.
     
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