Thursday, May 22, 2008

Readers: Doubts on U.K. strike; 3% raise envy

Recent Gannett Blog reader comments on the five-day walkout that Newsquest newspaper workers began today in York, England, over a proposed 3% raise they say is below the inflation rate:
  • "I will never understand the walkout mentality. If you don't like your working conditions and don't want to work within the system to change them, go someplace else. Last time I checked, no one was working at a GCI property as part of an indentured servitude arrangement."
  • "In reference to the 3% wage increases in the U.K. -- sure, it's below inflation, but in my eight years with Gannett, I never received anything above my one 'outstanding year' raise: 5%. Frankly, I'm amazed they got 3%. Of course, 3% of not enough will always be not enough."
As a percentage, how big was your last pay raise? Leave a note, in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, use this link from a non-work computer; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.

9 comments:

  1. My last raise at USA Today was a little over 4%. Indeed, that was the minimum increase I recall getting in almost every one of the 20 years I worked for Gannett.

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  2. Uh, the system isn't designed in such a way that individuals can change it by working inside. They have zero power.

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  3. "If you don't like your working conditions and don't want to work within the system to change them, go someplace else."

    Easy to say. Much harder to do.

    In a slumping economy and an especially slumping industry, employees of a newspaper - particularly newsroom employees - may have a very hard time finding a job easily or quickly.

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  4. 2.6%, and was told it was the max allowable at the courier-post due to poor circ and ad revenue

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  5. 2% after good reviews, and told it was the new norm. Most got 1%, if anything.

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  6. My editor: "Look, I know it's lousy, but 3 percent is as good as I've seen around here. Really, we've got some people who aren't even getting that."

    Me: OK, thank you! (eye roll).

    Look, 10 years into Gannett, in my late 30s, I was making right around $37-$38,000 a year. By the time I hit 40, I was making $40,000 (and that inlcuded a pay bump 'cause I went from one shitty GCI property to one that was allegedly a little higher in the pecking order.) I know for a fact that I won't make 50K at 50 as a reporter/columnist.

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  7. I just got 2.5 percent. Apparently that is the standard this year. I twice have gotten double-digit raises, but both were promotion-based. The biggest nonpromotion raise was 6.6 percent.

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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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