It's the little things that bolster morale in the lives of stressed-out Gannett employees -- and the little things taken away that hurt. A Courier-Journal employee in Louisville says management announced yesterday that it's swapping vending machines for the fuller-service cafeteria in the building."First," the reader says in an e-mail today, "the company tried to bulldoze the City Cafe, the only decent place to eat lunch near our newspaper. Now, they're ditching the in-house cafeteria, despite hundreds of new hires for the 'Center of Excellence' circulation call-center in our building. But we're all sure the new vending machines will be just as 'excellent' as the full-service restaurant that is getting the ax..."
The newspaper's move reminds me of the ruckus created this past summer at the Burlington Free Press, where the publisher told employees they'd have to pay for their own parking -- while top brass continued enjoying that perk.
Readers: E-mail examples of other sniveling cutbacks here -- plus link suggestions, tips, snarky letters, etc.; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the sidebar, upper right. Or leave a note in the comments section, below.
[Image: This morning's Courier-Journal, Newseum]
The parking situation in Burlington reminds me of the situation with cell phones in Phoenix. Editors who never leave the building have Blackberries and make a big deal of checking their email in news meetings. Photographers and reporters, who are never in the building and could use Blackberry type devices, have to make do with year old voice only cell phones. Many are so old their batteries only last an hour or two. On standby. Start talking and the battery dies in minutes.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget the newsroom where prize money from a staff award was used to pay the light bill -- without employees knowing.
ReplyDeleteIn Cincinnati, takeaways were water coolers, plants, name plaques, desk chairs, Christmas gifts and subscriptions to retirees, among other things. Phones that worked all the time were replaced with those that don't work much. The cleaning people picket frequently and you'll give up prize money to fund a refrigerator for leftovers from home. The biggest hope is that no one will swipe your fridge in the name of technology when staying late is a requirement because of the things that don't work and too few people.
ReplyDeleteAll the while there is a constant reminder how lucky we are to have jobs.
Anonymous
ReplyDeleteFor a company who prides itself in saying it is family and employee friendly I think it if corporate bu-- Sh-- that they try to feed to business magazines. This is a corporation with one of the lowest morale in employees, with too many editors that are more worried about climbing the corporate ladder and prostituting their journalistic ethics. There are some publishers who really care for their employees, but on a national scale the leadership stinks. Has anybody noticed any person over 45 being promoted? It is ironic that Gannett recently had major articles on ageism. Thye should look in their own backyard.
Oh no! Cincy is getting rid of the in-house cafeteria? Say it ain't so!
ReplyDeleteMany people in Gannett-land cozy up to a vending machine and have done so for years without so much as a bistro.
Welcome to the party, pal.
Cafeteria ... schmafeteria
The Cafeteria was in Louisville, and we liked it. They had an outside company that ran it so it was no cost. All they had to do to keep it was buy a dishwasher. We used to have service award dinners, company picnics, Christmas parties, free coffee, employee appreciation week, they even told people to stop bringing in birthday cakes for other people. I never understood the birthday cake thing because it wasn’t an expense. They just said that they didn’t like looking at the food. lol.
ReplyDelete