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Indianapolis Newspaper Guild's "Declaration of Resistance"

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Human_Paraquat, Jul 4, 2014.

  1. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    They're not going to fire everyone at once.
     
  2. jr/shotglass

    jr/shotglass Well-Known Member

    How many short of everyone ... nooooo, backing away quickly.
     
  3. PaperDoll

    PaperDoll Well-Known Member

    Maybe a union shop is different, but at other, non-Guild Gannett outposts nobody gets fired because it's well known that position will never be filled. Having a warm body working slowly is still better than an empty chair.
     
  4. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Tell that to the employees at Halifax's Florida papers.
     
  5. Has Baron ever participated in any of the tactics he advocates? Maybe he could shed light on the success of such endeavors.
     
  6. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Actually, there was one time in Gannett when our EE wanted us to write a meaningless local reaction piece to some national thing and we were all totally swamped already. We all refused to do it and told him we didn't have time. Nothing happened to us, except we each had a little less stress that night because we had one less thing to do.

    I also, at other papers, have told my bosses that they could choose between paying me overtime for covering something over 40 hours that week or the event wouldn't get covered. Telling me that they would get someone else wasn't workable for them, because there was nobody else who knew anything about sports. My next paycheck was a little larger.

    So yes, I have stood up on occasion when management has tried to screw me over.
     
  7. FileNotFound

    FileNotFound Well-Known Member

    Good for you, particularly on the second story. It's fine to warn management that you're going to go over 40 and give them the chance to make the decision whether the coverage is worth it to the readers. If it is, they'll find a way to pay you. If it's not, they won't. Either way, don't give away your work.
     
  8. Human_Paraquat

    Human_Paraquat Well-Known Member

    Gannett also owns papers in Muncie, Lafayette and Richmond, and I'm not sure if any of them are union shops. One assumes those employees would get drafted to help put out the Star in the event of a guild walk-out/strike/etc.
     
  9. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Probably, yes. Although if those employees also refused, Gannett would go to their other papers, like like they did years ago with Detroit. Which means those employees would also have to refuse. Seeing how Gannett has treated everyone, it's not like the company has engendered much goodwill for employees to want to help them.

    The thing is, though, is that Gannett has cut so many jobs already. There may not be enough to bring in replacements.
     
  10. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Lots of good people at the Star and they've certainly got a creative union, but the ones I know wouldn't do anything rash to hurt the product in order to make a point. Nor should they, if they want to keep community support.

    Plus, half the paper is USA Today reprint anyway. If a number of staff wanted to go on strike or whatever, I'm guessing it wouldn't take much effort to make the paper 90 percent USA Today content.
     
  11. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    I keep getting told by the Star's Web site that I've maxed out my free visits. Must be an absolute number, too, because there was no refreshing or resetting at the start of this month. And I know I've only tried to go there once or twice in July.

    So they're dead to me.
     
  12. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    On the flip side, the staff could leave, start their own website and compete with the old paper/website. That was unpossible when you had to pay for a printing press.
     
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