Newark cuts salaries, bennies

The sound you hear, ladies and gentlemen, is that of shotglass waking up to a strange phenomenon called "Reality."

Welcome, shotglass. Leave your coat at the door, and grab a drink. Get comfortable.

 

Sources tell me the same thing is happening in Syracuse, another Newhouse paper. Is this happening at all of Newhouse's papers?

 

Yes, in varying degrees.

 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is someone who takes delight at the misery of others.

Who would you rather be?

 

Are you again asking everyone to "Pick a side"?

Because, you know, it's, um, good to stand up and be counted. Or some such. Right?

Anyway . . .

No delight here. A raised eyebrow at your sudden change of heart, perhaps. Noticing the fact that you, the loudest holdout against the "state of industry" threads, are finally worried . . . sure. You seem to have stopped taking glee in proclaiming the safety and joy of your own station. So, yes, I indulged my immature desire to poke you for this.

I take no "delight" in the state of the industry, shotglass.

I am not happy at all with this latest news about Newark and Newhouse. I feel only sadness.

 

Let me see if my math is correct.

If you make 80,000 now.

You will lose 2,000 off the first 40,000 and then 4,000 off the second, so you will now be making 74,000 -- and then on top of that probably have to pay about 5,000 per year for your health benefits and you lose two weeks pay for your furlough (which is about $1539 per week, so you are losing 3,078) --- meaning you are now only making 65,022 now?

 

I think you're pretty much on target with that, with the exception of the health insurance. I don't believe we're talking $20,000 annual for health insurance. I could be wrong.

 

Furloughs and paycut and health insurance increase... fuckity fuck

 

No, slap. Fuckity fuck is when you're behind the deli counter at Giant.

 

So for me, that would be June...

 

So should I call a certain AME in Newark and thank him for forcing me out (with a very good severance deal) 11 years ago?

 

That's close to right on the out-of-pocket health insurance cost. Based on the pricing in the memo,a family of three will pay 25 percent - $4,165 - for the year. Company cost per employee based on that figure is about $17,000 then, correct?

Therefore total hit to someone making $80,000 is roughly $13,400 assuming they accept the health insurance cost for a family of three.

That is a 17 percent cut in compensation. A nice hit to the salary, sure. But it's quite a bit softer than the hit many other employees in the Newhouse chain are absorbing. In Michigan, some employees are seeing their pay cut anywhere from 25-50 percent. Ad reps rumored to go from $900-1,000 a week to $300-400 a week.