Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Tuesday | Jan. 13 | Your News & Comments
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Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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Hi! This post is the Gannett Blog equivalent of a pre-print.
ReplyDeleteOK. So as I read through the comments on the blog there is one continuing theme. Gannett is not innovative, never does anything new, always buys old products, etc.. and on and on and on.
ReplyDeleteAnd then, when they try something new, innovative, the same folks carp that it's crap. I mean, come on, we've all worked in newsrooms that labored to put their own spin on covering national stories -- inaugurations, presidential elections, super bowl, etc...
We like to think that only our copy desk can take WIRE copy and WIRE photos and WIRE colums and put a local stamp that makes it different.
And for years we thought it was. But guess what we were fooling ourselves. It is not necessary for the staff of 85 different newspapers to spend time and energy to tell a national story to local readers. It was only for our ego.
We went to school and longed for the day to cover the big story. Well guess what, those days are gone. And we've got to get used to the fact that there is still alot we can do, but surprise, surprise we're going to have to retrain ourselves and grow up and move on.
Those days have passed us and the future is bright but we've got to stop the carping, self-loathing and crepe hanging, or we won't move forward.
Is Content One perfect? Of course not, but it's the first try at this experiment. Is everything we do day in and day out perfect? Not even close.
At least that's the opinion of one who has seen the light.
To Anon at 11:12 p.m.:
ReplyDeleteYou've seen the light? What light? We're staring into the dark abyss at my paper, and have been for quite some time.
To wit: Our profit margins have whupped every other paper in our regional group forEVER. Our creative teams -- whether in advertising, editorial, presentation, photography -- regularly spank the competition, even when our smallish community paper is compared to (what seem to us) ginormous daily-circ papers. And, not to brag, but we're an awfully smart, well-educated & well-read bunch that knows our (smart, cagey & by-&-large blue-collar) audience cold.
So, we could've told corporate that our readers would ignore Cozi and HSSports.net and most of the other time-wasting, glitchy web products it pushes us to prostitute. But do they listen? Do they give a rat's arse? Please. (They invested big dough & man hours on this crap, & pitched it like they were Masters of the Universe -- no way they're gonna admit they screwed up.) Spare our put-out-of-work colleagues and those left behind that are mightily put upon your inappropriate and disrespectful boosterism.
Dude. The Reagan era is long gone. It's not "morning in America," and you can't easily dismiss those who've lost their hope and respect for gannett as "welfare queens."
@7:46 yesterday was curious about the benefits of two-ply in the executive restroom.
ReplyDeleteWhen you finish wiping on one side, you can flip it over and use the other ply on the other side. This gives publishers greater efficiency as they don't need to tear off two portions as the rest of us have to do.
You may be curious as to the messiness factor. As most publishers shat don't stank, we can assume that it doesn't stain either.
3:50, you in Green Bay? :)
ReplyDeleteany sites similar to that gannett layoffs site?
ReplyDeleteTo 1/12/09 6:43pm:
ReplyDeleteYou got it all wrong. The newsprint "standard cost" charged each newspaper is designed to level the playing field; same cost per ton, no matter the size of your publication. The difference between that standard cost and what Gannett Supply negotiates is trued-up for the division each year. In other words, the combined buying power of Gannett is used to your advantage. Imagine what price you'd pay if you were a single buyer of say, 20,000 metric tons annually versus the combined buying power for all Gannett newspapers of 800,000 metric tons. Centralized procurement of newsprint has saved this company and your newspaper hundreds of millions.
Editorial content for newspapers can be found in a number of places on the internet. Advertising sales is the only thing that is going to save your paper. As with 99.9999% of all US companies the bottom line is all that counts. To think otherwise is foolish.
ReplyDeleteI would hope GCI in the future would at least evaluate some sort of proprietary reader. And I say that after looking at the XBox 360 Live online experience and the scads of people who buy access and content. You pay a modest fee, about $30-40 a year to access on-line game playing. And you can purchase additional tiered content. movies, games, etc. But because it is MSFT's device, you can only access the exclusive content that MSFT allows you to see. Why couldn't Gannett explore something like this. Advertising could be closely targeted to account preferences, income, location, etc. MSFT has done it. Amazon is doing it through Kindle. GCI could subsidize the reader(s) and have its own exclusive portal. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteAre any other layoff folks having trouble getting their pension?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone already have a lawyer with pension expertise lined up who may be interested in taking us all?
I'm in New Jersey Group and have received no, nada, zilch correspondence about my pension. Corporate is blaming it on the local site and taking no action. Handy, but I don't think it's legal.
Perhaps there's hope for Gannett yet.
ReplyDeleteFrom today's Wall Street Journal:
A deepening labor market downturn that cost 524,000 Americans their jobs last month is even swelling the jobless rate for chief executives.
William Watkins, ousted Monday at Seagate Technology LLC, is the sixth CEO of a publicly held company to be replaced in just the last eight days. His exit follows the departures last week of CEOs at Tyson Foods Inc., Borders Group Inc., Orbitz Worldwide Inc., Chico's FAS Inc. and Bebe Stores Inc.
Many experts view the changes as harbingers of significantly more turmoil in executive suites this year. Like other companies, these six corporations have been grappling with poor financial results, slumping stock prices and, in some cases, investor criticism.
I think 3:50 is in Oshkosh! Most of it rings true.
ReplyDelete11:13 a.m., your position does not sound as if it came from a journalist.
ReplyDeleteNeither readers nor advertisers are asking for less news and more tits and ass. That's a sorry choice ignorant sexist corporate pimps made. It's not a sign of the times or of a change in audience.
And the continuing plummet in circulation and ineffectiveness of web hits is proof that this corporate team is a miserable failure.
In fact, I think corporate ownership of news media in general is a miserable failure. All "mainstream media" corporations' stock prices, circulation/viewers, satisfaction surveys -- everything in front of us -- says as much.
I think it's you who lives in a fantasy world. I wonder where you work.
If we could figure out a way to charge viewers every time they clicked on a boob, we could raise a lot of revenue.
ReplyDeleteThen again, if that happens, it would be a good time for the execs to each have web pages...
The ideal time for Gannett to have put its papers/stations up for sale was before the stock market crash. Gannett should have hired an investment adviser to assess the appetite for buying individual properties at what would have been top dollar in 2006/2007. Too late for top dollar now, but that's not to say the company couldn't cut a good deal for some of its monopoly properties, like the Ariz. Republic or Louisville C-J. At the rate those businesses are going, they might not be worth anything. Better to sell for something, even at a loss, than to go insolvent as the last remaining volume advertisers -- car dealers, department stores, furniture stores and homebuilders -- go elsewhere. A buyer would not have the same debt load, corporate overhead, corporate-imposed obligations to stinker in-house products, stiflingly standardized practices, and lockstep management that the properties have under chain ownership. Anyone who thinks the chain model is the road to stay on hasn't seen the stock price lately. That, my friends, is what the world thinks of Gannett.
ReplyDelete"Is Content One perfect? Of course not, but it's the first try at this experiment."
ReplyDeleteExperiment? A company chooses something that only happens every four years for a time of experimentation? That's silly.
RE: Pension, I was told that it generally takes approximately 45 - 60 days for HR to complete our pension calculation. Hope that helps. Stupid Gannett!!
ReplyDeleteI took my buyout from a Gannett site effective in September. I received my 401k papers two weeks later. I received my pension papers in December. The forms state that it could take 5 weeks to process them once received by Gannett.
ReplyDeleteIf we could figure out a way to charge viewers every time they clicked on a boob, we could raise a lot of revenue. ... 1/13/2009 11:23 AM
ReplyDeleteIt has been figured out. They're called "porn sites" and they make a lot of money. Some seem to want us to believe the tits and ass is making us money, but it's not unless we charged to see it.
A corporation's responsibility is solely to make money, so it's reasonable to suggest Gannett offer Metromix/Moms soft porn and real porn for pay-to-click. I'm serious, not sarcastic. Team Dubow should lobby Congress and legislatures to legalize prostitution. The corporation then really could put female (and I guess male, too) reporters on the streets to "turn tricks." It makes good money, which is the only responsibility of a public corporation.
This experiment at media ownership by public corporations instead of individuals has been a miserable disaster.
I think the continuing business failure indicates neither consumers nor advertisers approve of corporate ownership. Stockholders seem to see it. They devalued news stocks overall by about 85% or more in just one year. 'Nuf said.
I'm the one who my the Larry Flint comment yesterday.
ReplyDeleteIt was not my intention to be desparaging to the young ladies by calling them hot whores (sluts whatever you want), I meant it as a compliment. In fact, I'm asking a lady friend of my to dress like those chicks - for my own amusement.
As to the idea of turning "BOOB CLICKS" into revenue, if that happens, my personal clicks with increase Gannett's market-value by 150% - I wasn't breast fed as a child.
The point I was trying to make with my humor, was to emphasize the feable frenetic flailing epileptic-like attempts Gannett is taking in an effort to find it's own TRUE MEANINGFULNESS to its communities. What we are all witnessing and experiencing (falling victim to) is the increasing realization (a terrifying one at that) by management that Gannett's papers have no lasting substantive reader-loyalty building & maintaining value.
I understand we must generate revenue and I know better than 99.995% (1-in-30,000 of the general adult population) of you the difficulty of doing so in this Depression. But to read a classified ad in my paper yesterday under the heading MASSAGE that says "A1 Happy Ending or Refund! In/Out ***-***-****"
I'm all for Happy Endings and I respect our above advertisers confidence in genrating Happy Endings with the refund offer. I'm no prude; I like -in privacy- my girlfriend(s) to be dirty bad girls.
But Damn; We're suppose to provide news, information, and -yes- entertainment IN A WAY THE GENRATES RESPECT & TRUST in our readers and our advertisers. I don't see BARRON'S, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, INVESTORS' BUSINESS DAILY going this route. But maybe that's it; they have a specialized relevancy....what do we have? Why don't we just go for it and have click-to-revenue generating links to porn-websites on our newspaper websites?
I'm probably wrong; I'm just one of the soon to be extinct blue-collar guys that gets the paper out.
Reggie H.
tammjenanalytics@live.com
10:13 AM writ:
ReplyDelete"Are any other layoff folks having trouble getting their pension?"
Don't know if you've gone past your severance or not, but until you've exhausted your severance & vacation pay, you're still on the books as a Gannettoid which means your pension and 401-k is still active.
One you get your last check, then you should get your pension and
401-k information within a week or three.
Of course, if you're already there and still haven't gotten your information, feel free to ignore everything I just said ;-)
Anon 9:25 A.M – You sound like you work for Gannett Supply.
ReplyDeleteWhen Gannett acquired our newspapers a few years ago we ended up paying more…at least $50 per ton and that did not get returned. And, of course, let’s not forget that many papers – the good ones anyway, look at their printing costs and set prices accordingly to remain competitive and profitable. Gannett Supply's thumb on the scale did not help here, nor when we learned about other their, and Gannett’s other “values” (plates, film, ink, network infrastructure, hardware, etc, etc) they had to offer as we were already paying the same rates, and in many case, far less.
I agree that consolidation can, at times, reap saving and good value. But, not always and you don’t need Gannett Supply or Gannett’s other costly entities to get it.
Not true 12:38 I am 11:57 and will receive my severance through the spring and have received all my papers. I am considerd an inactive employee until my severance runs out. I do have all of my forms now.
ReplyDelete@10:13 a.m.: Check with http://www.pensionrights.org for some guidance on whether your case warrants legal action.
ReplyDeleteDear Craig and Friends:
ReplyDeleteThe bottom line is that the corporations that own newspapers -- and the boobs in charge of each site -- are decreasing the value of the core product on a daily basis. Personally, I don't think the brass at Gannett really knows what to do at this point. And, their minions in the field are faltering even more due to that lack of focus, leadership and corporate stability. The depression that our economy is currently facing is just an excuse for bad leadership and even worse execution.
The bread and butter of Gannett is home subscriptions, not internet visitors. If digital is the sole solution, then Gannett will emerge as an even weaker company. An effort needs to be made to stem the rapid decimation of existing newspaper subscribers.
This is a company steeped in deep traditions that will never completely allow itself to compete in the digital era. Too much change, too rapidly for newspapers. At this point, they need to stem the bleed, not reinvent the wheel with a substandard plan and tools. I am saying all of this from the voice of a habitual innovator whose efforts were never appreciated and achievements rarely understood by Gannett's rank-and-file management. Everyone who knows me knows that I will be fine in finding a new challenge, unfortunately I can't make the same prediction about Gannett. :-(
Jim what percentage of your commenters are from the editorial side of Gannett? It seems to be about 90%.
ReplyDelete12:38, I don't think that's true for people who were involuntarily terminated. I wonder if you're coming from a buyout experience.
ReplyDeleteI think those of us who were laid off ceased being "Gannettoids" on Dec. 2, or whatever the layoff day. The termination letter promised "notification of your vested benefit" within 90 days (no mention of any tie to severance).
I checked, because I've not heard a word, and Roxanne Horning forwarded my query to Carrie Oman at corporate, who washed her hands of it by saying Lisa Ludlow at the Asbury Park Press was responsible to get us this letter, and then corporate may take ANOTHER 45 to 60 days to process it.
Assuming we have no need to check the figures they give us or pass them by our professional advisers before returning the form, that's five months we may have to let Gannett keep our money.
I, too, was thinking we should check the law on this. The processing time seems excessive to me, especially since the APP never sent me an accurate pension letter last year (or ever), when others received two letters and were told to ignore the first one. That leaves me to assume Lisa has been working on my accurate pension figures more than a year already.
I anticipate I'll have questions when I see this letter Lisa is supposed to send me. She hasn't acknowledged or replied to my request Friday that she provide me some timetable by yesterday.
I have asked Roxanne Horning if our pension accounts are frozen -- as in not earning gains -- during this processing. I'll let you know how she or whoever she passes it to replies. I think that matters.
As for the excessive processing time, I wonder if it wouldn't have been more responsible to reassign a few of those layoff victims to HR, at least temporarily, to make sure Gannett meets its obligations on pension payouts. That would be even more reasonable if it's true more layoffs are planned in days to come.
Or 3:50 could be in St. Cloud. All of that rings true here too. Blergh.
ReplyDelete1:10 PM Wrote:
ReplyDelete"Not true 12:38 I am 11:57 and will receive my severance through the spring and have received all my papers."
Odd how this would vary from paper to paper. I'm on the other end of the severance (in new careerville) and was speaking only from my own experience.
Jim or others: Did anyone ever find out the details (deadline, process, etc.) of getting a shareholder resolution on the agenda for the annual meeting?
ReplyDeleteJim (or others): Did anyone ever find out what the deadline and process are for submitting shareholder resolutions for the annual meeting?
ReplyDeleteIs there anything more damning for the failure of corporate strategy than going from the days when signs proclaiming "Remember the Ladies" and "Women Come First" were prominently posted in the Features department (to general outrage and especially for male staff members, I might add), to the present push of sexist material in its most base form of eye candy on the very web site Gannett thinks will be its salvation?
ReplyDeleteWe've gone from women have the power to just women have the tits. At least there is undisputed truth in the latter.
Or perhaps Gannett honestly believes T&A will appeal to upper-income white women in the suburbs (that's all the company has stated it cares about) to such a degree that it can be financially self-supporting? I wouldn't bet the ranch on that one.
CincyMoms and similar sites are embarassing, disgraceful. I really wonder whether the female bull editors who've rampaged at will (and they have) through Gannett newsrooms for years are swallowing this crap well. I'd bet not, though I concede they have little choice.
With such a track record from corporate (News 2000, etc.) why would anyone put their faith in another round of strategic moves that in five years have crushed the stock from $89 a share (remember when everyone was twittering about a stock split?) to $8.
And please, if I hear one more robot blindly (and that's the key word, as in cluelessly) mouth the "change or die" mantra of the swine Currie I'm just going to heave up my lunch.
I am reminded that change is an undefined concept, until proven to be either positive or negative.
There now. I feel much better.
Thanks, to the poster who provided the link to the pension resources website. I called and spoke to an attorney at one of the centers listed there.
ReplyDeleteAs a result, I'm writing a letter I'll mail by return receipt in the morning to Administrator, Gannett Retirement Plan, 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA 22102.
I'm asking for a copy of the "Summary Plan Description" in effect on my last day of work. The company must provide this booklet to explain how the pension amount it says I have is calculated. Requests for the booklet must be met within 30 days.
To save time, I'm using that letter also to "hereby apply to cash out all pension benefits for rollover," so as not to waste any more time. The law allows Gannett to take up to 90 days to answer that letter, although the response could deny rollover. There are reasons Gannett can't cash out, for example if it has let the pension fund fall below a certain percentage of obligations.
If I had known to do this on Dec. 2 (hint to those yet to be laid off) or if Gannett had done the responsible thing and provided the booklet at the time of termination, I likely could expect my rollover money in hand no later than the end of February, instead of April or May, as appears to be Gannett's intention at this time. That stinks.
So now with Ripple6, we are gathering oodles of data on people who spend their time on the Internet looking at sleaze or for girls who party. So we analyze that data, track what these people are doing, and take all that information to advertisers. Hmmm. What does an advertiser, say a department store, do with that information? Boys like looking at girls is fantastic insight into the buying patterns of today's American gigabucks male? What advertiser wants this audience? Your local staid department store peddling pedestrian household goods, or some Internet store selling mail-order condoms and jerk-off devices?
ReplyDelete3:13: can you by chance share the entire text of your letter? I am definitely interested in writing one myself and would love to piggyback off it. You could "x" out anything that would reveal who you were or place a (fill in the blank) in those areas. It would be helpful to more than a few people, I would think.
ReplyDelete4:13,
ReplyDeleteRather than copying someone else's letter, best to consult your own attorney and get his/her advice as pertains to your situation. What's food for A might not be good for L.
Sure, not much to the letter, and I'm open to changes, if anyone sees a better way:
ReplyDeleteJan. 13, 2009
Administrator
Gannett Retirement Plan
7950 Jones Branch Drive
McLean, VA 22102
Dear Administrator,
Please send me a copy of the "Summary Plan Description" in effect on Dec. 2, 2008, defining Gannett's calculations for individual pension funds. Include any information that may be specific to Asbury Park Press employees pre- and post-Gannett.
With this letter, I hereby apply to cash out all my pension benefits for immediate rollover.
I also would appreciate the name and contact information of the administrator or other Gannett employee responsible to address pension concerns directly. Thank you.
Yours truly,
My very savvy financial adviser pushed me to do everything I could to quickly extract my pension from GCI following my August layoff. He said there is great concern about pension funds in situations in which companies are losing money or facing bankruptcy. It is possible that Gannett is having trouble either in terms of manpower or cash on hand in keeping up with the pension payouts for the December layoffs after all the work they had to do to process the August layoffs. And here is what CNN reported last week: "Although old-line manufacturers from automakers to chemical producers are certainly among the companies that bear watching for pension problems, companies as diverse as newspaper and television broadcaster E.W. Scripps (SSP) and boat and bowling equipment maker Brunswick Corp. (BC) could be potential risks, too, according to analysts." See the story at http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200901091542DOWJONESDJONLINE000804_FORTUNE5.htm
ReplyDelete5:05 PM
ReplyDeleteDid Gannett send you a summary plan every year? If not, I'd ask for all them for all the years you were employed.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE CHANGES
ReplyDeleteOriginally posted: January 13, 2009
Chicago Tribune repackaging itself in tabloid size for street sales
The Chicago Tribune on Monday will hit the streets—and its rival, the Chicago Sun-Times—with a newly reformatted tabloid-sized version of itself for weekday sales at area commuter stations, newsstands and newspaper boxes, the Tribune announced today.
Home delivery subscribers will continue to receive the Tribune’s traditional broadsheet edition, which will have the same editorial content as the single-copy tabloid version with minor differences in headlines, photos and captions because of the new size, the paper said.
Tribune executives said they believe publishing near-identical versions of the paper simultaneously in broadsheet and compact editions is unprecedented among major U.S. dailies.
The tabloid-sized street-sale edition will remain priced at 75 cents, although copies of Monday’s debut will be free as part of a launch promotion. RedEye, the free commuter tabloid the Tribune launched in 2002, will remain unchanged. The Chicago Sun-Times, the Tribune’s tabloid-sized rival, sells for 50 cents.
The Tribune's move, replacing its broadsheet edition with the tabloid version at the retail level, is an aggressive bet that a switch in size will improve sales. There are no plans to make the tabloid-sized edition available for home delivery and those who buy single copies of the paper awayy from Chicago and its suburbs will continue to see the broadsheet edition.
“Many news consumers have asked for a more convenient version of the paper that contains all of the same great news and information. Starting Monday, we’ll give them what they’ve asked for,” Tony Hunter, the Chicago Tribune Media Group’s president, publisher and chief executive, said in the announcement. “Companies succeed when they leverage strong brands and respond to customer feedback.”
Single-copy sales only accounted for 9 percent, or 46,495 papers, of the Chicago Tribune's average paid weekday circulation of 516,032 for the six-month stretch ending in September, the most recent figures available from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The Sun-Times' single-copy sales of 186,626 represented around 60 percent of its 313,176 average paid weekday circulation in that same span.
RedEye's free weekday distribution averages around 200,000 copies, a Chicago Tribune spokesman said.
"The quote 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' came to mind this morning upon your announcement," Sun-Times Media Group spokeswoman Tammy Chase said by e-mail. "Sure, size matters, but so is what you do with it. The Tribune can copy us on the tabloid style, but it certainly won’t have the city’s best columnists, the best news and the best sports coverage that have kept Chicagoans picking up the city’s tabloid for more than 60 years."
The Chicago Tribune's broadsheet content from the paper’s news, sports and business sections will be published in tabloid format for the street-sale edition. The paper’s feature sections—including Live!, Play, On the Town and Good Eating—will continue to be printed in broadsheet form and inserted into the newsstand edition, as will Classified Marketplace.
Thinking back - it seemed like I received my pension statement about 45 days after my mutual disassociation w/ Gannett in 2006. I took a lump sum and took the penalty and tax hit because it was that or lose the house. Still have the house BTW and a new job. One thing to check on after leaving - how you are classified (inactive, retired, laid off, resigned, etc.) can impact whether you can qualify for a 401K hardship withdrawal, according to Hewitt. Hewitt now claims if are are "inactive" you cannot qualify for a hardship.
ReplyDeleteNote- to be certain you are not taxed on your pension $$ be sure to state a ROLL-OVER to a specific IRA ACCOUNT at the bank etc. of your choice.
ReplyDeleteFunds should be transferred to your IRA as FBO "For The Benefit of" to avoid a federal income tax hassle.
Under no circumstances should you directly take posession of the $$ or
check. You will want to include the tansfer bank, routing number your IRA account number as well when requesting rollover.
Good Luck!
Thanks, 5:29 and 6:47!
ReplyDeleteCollaboration works.
Pensions have been the topic of the day, but I have a problem now with NJ State Unemployment. I cannot ever get through to them on their recorded messages. The meesage topics are helpful but don't answer all the questions. The caller is instructed to dial "O" for a claim representative. At this point, you are told that the volume is high and to call back later. Repeated over and over and over again! If you were put on hold, you would have a chance of eventually getting through. Anyone else have this experience?
ReplyDeleteTo further confuse the issue, you are told not to come to their office unless instructed by mail to do so.
I don't even know how to file for weekly benefits because no pin number was ever sent.
7:21:
ReplyDeleteIt's not just New Jersey, but happening all over the country. Do a Google News search for "unemployment" and "swamped."
The Tennessean's celebrity columnist, Beverly Keel (who also wrote more than her fair share of news stories and web alerts), resigned today. The public is already talking about how thin the paper is. Reaction to this development will be interesting to watch. She is well respected within the music industry and brought many scoops to the paper. A real loss, and I wish her well.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else heard more about the layoffs?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I'm hearing/seeing I tend to believe some more layoffs may occur before the end of this week.
ReplyDelete7:21, have you tried accessing the NJ state unemployment information online?
ReplyDeleteAnd regarding pensions -- and any other communications you have with Gannett after you leave:
Do yourself two favors:
1. Keep copies of every single communication you have with them, with the dates.
2. Any time you send them a letter requesting anything related to money -- whether it's your pension, your 401k, or your COBRA benefits -- be sure you send the letter certified mail, return receipt requested. That way you always have proof that someone received it and when they received it.
Document, document, document. Don't give them any wiggle room at all. Ever.
I sent my pension rollover request via certified mail when I left Gannett for a better (though lower-paying) job a year ago. I got my pension rollover check in 30 days.
Don't accept the "we're overburdened" crap. They have rules they have to abide by. Hold their feet to the fire.
Responding to:
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
Pensions have been the topic of the day, but I have a problem now with NJ State Unemployment. I cannot ever get through to them on their recorded messages. The meesage topics are helpful but don't answer all the questions. The caller is instructed to dial "O" for a claim representative. At this point, you are told that the volume is high and to call back later. Repeated over and over and over again! If you were put on hold, you would have a chance of eventually getting through. Anyone else have this experience?
To further confuse the issue, you are told not to come to their office unless instructed by mail to do so.
I don't even know how to file for weekly benefits because no pin number was ever sent.
HOPE THIS IS HELPFUL:
You do not have to go to the office unless they ask you to come there. Just fill out the information on this link and wait for additional information:
http://njsuccess.dol.state.nj.us/html/uimain.html
You create your own Pin Number right there on the web page (so have a pad and pen ready) before filling out the Claim Information. Everything is self explanatory. When completed keep watching your "snail" or regular mailbox in front of your residence, because the information you receive will have important information as to your orientation, etc.
Come on...give up that $5 or $25 and help Jim put it to a good cause...our cause.
ReplyDelete8:56: What are you hearing/seeing that leads you to believe more lay offs are coming?
ReplyDelete7:21, Just an FYI from someone who is currently collecting UI from NJ, I had the same problem. If you really need to speak to someone just go in to your local center. We were told at the orientation that they are having a horrific time with their phone system and I think they are in the process of hiring more people.
ReplyDeleteNJ's Unemployment Insurance system is crazy swamped. Trying to get through on the phone is a waste of time and cell minutes. Some say they manage to get through at 7 a.m. sharp, but I never have gotten through, even at 7 a.m.
ReplyDeleteI did everything online and have had questions and problems. So far most are minor, but if I wasn't getting severance at the same time, I'd be tearing my hair out and too distraught about money to find employment.
I spent half the day yesterday at a mandatory UI counselor session, and then fought the crashed computer system (the computer won) all -- ALL -- afternoon. It just crashed, midway while I was doing the online claim form on the exact day I was designated to do so between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. The system never came back online, and the phone filing recording said it was down too. Now, I'm not sure what UI wants. Today it said I couldn't file because it wasn't my day, but I understand it to say I can on a Wednesday.
So I'm guessing that if the system is back up, I can file tomorrow and my check will just be late coming, or maybe I lose two days' insurance. I don't know. The counselor only had a very narrow expertise and told us not to call him for things like this, but if I was desperate I think I could walk into either of my two are UI offices and get some help.
This is why I don't apologize for collecting on my unemployment insurance now, while severance is coming. I'm just keeping it on the side in case I don't have a new job before severance runs out, and with the job outlook, that is seeming more likely every day.
In the best-case scenario I get a comparable job soon, I'll spend that UI money hiring American contractors to do some long-overdue repairs on my home. I'd be able to do more to keep local businesses going and prevent foreclosures than Wall Street is with the $1+ trillion from our taxes.
As an aside on things to watch Gannett on- my experience on the life insurance was incredible.
ReplyDeleteMy premiums went from $640 per month for $800,000 coverage to to just under $7,000 per quarter. It took Roxanne 4 months to respond to my inquiry and that was only after I wrote directly to Craig.
Roxanne blamed it on the insurance company, but when I sent them the Your Benefits Now web page print out it clearly showed conversion would be at "group" rates. It took another month to hear back from the insurance company, and they sent me the letter sent to GCI in 2005 stating the conversion would be only to a whole life policy. Roxanne then told me that since I was on disability when terminated and NOT AT MY DESK on my last day of "employment" the group conversion was not available to me. That after 14 years of paying premiums. NO WHERE DOES IT STATE THOSE TERMS IN ANY WRITTEN INFORMATION I RECEIVED DURING MY YEARS WITH GANNETT.
WATCH GCI THEY ARE EXPERTS AT SCREWING EMPLOYEES.
3:50...are you in Brevard, Florida?
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