Monday, March 02, 2009
Jersey Confidential: Issue 03.02.09
This new forum is for New Jersey Group news and comments. Jersey Confidential: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions will be archived.)
30 comments:
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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Just what we need: More NJ comments.
ReplyDeleteNOT!
Why is the label "Widows and Orphans"?
ReplyDeleteI'm copying these most recent comments, from today's Real Time comments open forum:
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
Thank you 10:19 am I tried,10:50 am YOU WILL NOT SEE OSHA SHOWING UP AT THE APP PLANT NEPTUNE,FOR SOME REASON I COULD NOT GET THEM TO COME OUT,ASK BOB COLLING AND MIKE,THEY MUST KNOW.Please read 12:36 am from Ernie Gant its important!!!!!!!!!!!!
3/02/2009 1:13 PM
Anonymous said...
As a former Gannettoid (an escapee who fled in terror a few years ago) I can tell you that other newspaper companies ARE looking at a paid website. Us, for instance. The company I am with now charges for most of its newspaper websites (it is up to the local site to be free, paid or partly each). We started charging for access to anything more than the "cover" or homepage late last year, and it was.... The BEST decision we ever made! Yes, some people grumbled and complained, but we were amazed at how many people signed up, OR, just paid a bit more for a print edition which gave them the online for free. You see, all existing print subscribers get the online edition free. If you don't take the print version, you have to pay for the web content. Period. We thought this would generate just a few subscribers, but at least stop the print subscription bleeding. What we found was AMAZING! People actually paid up! Lots of them! But yes, local content is key. And we have lots of that on our website, which is updated from OUR newsroom, not somewhere else. Wwe control our website here. Ain't that nice? Anyway... I cannot believe Gannett papers online are still free. It is ... suicide.
3/02/2009 1:13 PM
Anonymous said...
"But yes, local content is key. And we have lots of that on our website, which is updated from OUR newsroom, not somewhere else. We control our website here..." Which is exactly the reason behind why this won't work for Gannett owned properties.
3/02/2009 1:15 PM
Anonymous said...
Share price just went below $3.
3/02/2009 1:19 PM
Anonymous said...
Flash -- GCI collapses through $3 and now is $2.97 and falling as I write this. This is now a $600 million company. Don't blink, as $400 million company three weeks off at this rate. Corporate take note: this is all the responsibility of your dithering, inaction and ineptitude.
3/02/2009 1:21 PM
Anonymous said...
To ALL I never made a bomb threat and why they would have hired guns at the door ,well I don't know,I was nice and calm even when they fired me.Even when I talked to SKIP PLEASE READ 12:36 AM
3/02/2009 1:22 PM
Anonymous said...
Who is Ernie Gant?WTF Gannett paid for hired guns at the doors? nice to see were the money is going
3/02/2009 2:50 PM
Anonymous said...
"Who is Ernie Gant?" I don't know, but either he was hammered when he posted, or he needs some basic literacy tutoring. Regardless, if his story is true, he ought to be talking to a labor lawyer, not posting crap here.
3/02/2009 3:01 PM
Anonymous said...
To 2:50 My name is Ernie,I'm told that APP NJ hired guards to protect Bob Collins and Skip Hidlay,and I'm told that the APP was told that I made a bomb threat as I said I never did,if you want to know some of the story just look at 3/2/09 12:36 I don't want to wright it again!
3/02/2009 3:01 PM
Anonymous said...
To 3:01 If your fellow Gannettiers health doesn't matter to you,you must be management, to say that this is crap!and as to talking to a lawyer it is still going on.I bet if this happend to you,it would be important!And as to why post hear,could you think of a better place.I'm sorry but every time I see someone saying NJ papers rock,well if it happend to you, you would understand.And just for the record I WAS A PRESS OPPERATOR,NOT AN ENGLISH MAJOR OR RIGHTER!
3/02/2009 3:10 PM
Anonymous said...
Here's 12:36 a.m., via cut/paste: ErnieG said... Ok so here we go,my name is Ernie Gant,I worked for the Asbury Park press for almost 18 years,I am the one who got fired for trying to get something done at the paper.I do still have the pictures,The day that I was fired I told Skip that I would not go back to the print shop until I got to talk to someone on the Board Of Directors.The print shop was not safe.Over the time that the floors were put on to the building,there was trouble with the drains for the bathrooms from up stairs.Raw sewerage came up from the grates on the floors,and each time this happened they would make the maintenance guys use Clobber Drain cleaner to fix the problem.The trouble is this product was made to use in a specific way,1 you don't pore 93% sulfuric acid into standing water,2 besides a reaction to water the acid does not act well with metal(Print shop were this happened was the old metal shop!,3 they were only supposed to use a little THEY USED EXCESIVE AMOUNTS of this product well out of the range of the manufacture warnings,4 you are not supposed to use this stuff wile people are working in the area!The funny thing was, that when I was trying to make people aware of the Gannett papers had dune stories on this exact thing.So when I mentioned this to Bob Collins,I was told no one would care,and after talking to the Monmouth County board of Health and OSHA,You know what he was right,SO I TRIED IN ONE LAST MEASURE TO GET SOMEYONE TO LISTEN AND I WAS FIRED.I never threatened anyone But I got hurt AND THEY KNEW IT ,WHY DO YOU THINK SKIP WAS SCARED.but THEY NEVER TOLD THE PEOPLE THAT GOT SICK UPSTAIRES WHAT THEY WERE EXPOSED TO,I DID.I am not a righter so this is only the short of it YOU SHOULD HEAR THE REST!Anyway I just think people should know. So that is it I am not anonymous I am Ernie Gant UFO!and I will swear to this in cort witch is what I realy want to do THANK YOU. 3/02/2009 12:36 PM Not that there's anything in it for you guys now, but the old APP Trouble Shooter offered to help get answers to pension questions for the older APP employees due pre-Gannett pension that Gannett has. Maybe she'll help you guys get your questions and information to the right place. I remember smelling that sewage odor in the bathroom upstairs for many months. It smelled like there was a pipe leak between floors. What good did Clobber do?
3/02/2009 3:11 PM
Anonymous said...
If you're enjoying this discussion, remember to send Jim $10 to help him keep this blog afloat. Just do it.
3/02/2009 3:28 PM
Anonymous said...
The Clobber did let the water go down,but it had a explosive reaction I got the pictures of the pump room next to the print shop,wish I could post them hear.I can tell you that the drains in the floor looked like the residue underneath your car battery,except 1000 worse got pics.What people forget is that APP did an air quality test.They fixed the report and I found out! why do you think Skip Bob and mike were scared and ordered armed guards at the doors the were scared!I got fired,and as to who will listen(talk about the power of the press)well I can tell you its true I called OSHA and they did NOT send anyone just a letter to the APP ,The health dept.came in but MANIEGMENT TOLD THEM NOTHING WAS WRONG,THEY DIDENT EVEN LOOK,MIKE L.COVERED IT UP.If an investigation was done now I bet they would still find proof!
3/02/2009 3:41 PM
Anonymous said...
"ErnieG said..." (snipped it all) Ernie - I'm not an attorney, but I'd betcha a nickel that no attorney would recommend you post this information in a public blog prior to a potential court case. You might want to check on that.
3/02/2009 3:55 PM
Anonymous said...
3:55 PM, Ernie said he "would" tell what he feels to be the truth in court. I don't see him saying he has a lawyer under contract or an ongoing court case. And give the guy a break. He's not a writer, but that doesn't make what he has to say less valuable than anyone else's experience. Ernie, have you read the OSHA whistleblower laws and the statutes protected by them? http://www.osha.gov/dep/oia/whistleblower/index.html You may have missed a ridiculous 30-day deadline to report your firing as a discriminatory action. This may need Congress' attention, like the Lily Ledbetter time limit did on gender discrimination related to salary. Might be worth pointing all this out to Sens. Lautenberg and Menendez.
3/02/2009 4:06 PM
Anonymous said...
I'm doing this because I do care what happens to other workers,the reaction to,"and here is the important thing"not only was Clobber used improperly but it was mixed with not just the water,but sulfuric acid was mixed with metal dust and shards.And worst was that it was mixed with the Developers and fixers that ran into the drains directly from the plate developers.I'v bin told that this mix was and might still be very very bad.I don't care about the attorneys this is the truth so hook me up to a lie detector,and them too ,well would get to the bottom quickly I bet
3/02/2009 4:11 PM
Anonymous said...
I am very aware of all the laws that are supposed to be there to help the employees.Trouble is at the time the big bosses at APP were the ones that covered up everything Bob Collins was coming up for retirement and I would guess that this is why when I tried to go through the CHAIN OF CAMOND NO ONE WOULD LISTEN.Just toss that Gannett Hand book right out the window!It's hard for people to believe just a worker when the head of HR and all the other powers that be were so scared of Bob they went right along with everything he said,BUT LIKE I SAID HOOK US UP AND LETS SEE WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH!
3/02/2009 4:20 PM
Anonymous said...
I tried that 30 day thing but was late on my response,you see they include weekends and holidays,try to get through to our Gov. at these times.You know its a jock!
3/02/2009 4:23 PM
Anonymous said...
Grow up. The only thing Clobber can do if used improperly is scar your lungs. You don't die.
3/02/2009 4:24 PM
Anonymous said...
4:24 Oh is that all,well you sure make me fell better!I guess the crystallized lymph nods that I have in my chest came from somewhere else.I wold like to know how you got your info?.Then you can look up how it reacts to the other cems.and metals in the drain at the quantities that were used.And I guess your management?
3/02/2009 4:45 PM
Anonymous said...
It feels as though I will never get my pension payout. I had to call to get the paperwork. Then I had to called to find out what the status was, only to learn that the 4-5 weeks it takes to get the check was delayed further for unknown reasons. Now I am told it might arrive by mid to late March, nearly four months after I was laid off. Just ridiculous! Talk about adding insult to injury. First they let me go for no conceivable reason whatsoever (the opinion of others as much as it is mine). Then I have to resort to taking the tax hit on the payout because the severance package was so lousy and I need money to live on in this horrible job market. And then the damn payment is going to take four months or longer to get. Warning to anyone who was recently hired or wants to work for Gannett: Run! You might not see it now, but eventually you will realize that this company has a very dark side. It's infamous reputation is very well deserved. And this pension mess is just a tiny indication of all that is wrong. Some very bad and two-faced people reside in this company. The inefficiencies are legendary. The selfishness and deceit are off the charts. It took me awhile to realize all this. And for me, it was too late. Don't make the same mistake I did. No matter how hard you work or how talented you are, odds are this company will eventually screw you. If you haven't joined a Gannett property, don't! This is a company that discriminates blatantly against older workers. And they actually get away with it! If you're still tempted by the crystal palace, and accept an offer at Gannett, make sure you have an exit strategy so that you can leave on your terms by 40 years old. As for this pension mess, you have to wonder why Gannett allows itself to become an open target for frustrated former employees. Couldn't they at least do this right and avoid some of the shots being taken on this blog and potential legal action? I mean, don't they have enough problems with falling stocks, bad morale, overworked staffers trying to take up the slack left by layoff victims, etc? Why would what amounts to an administrative or clerical task be botched so much? Well, I guess because they tend to botch everything. They don't think things through in detail. They just react and think they've formulated a plan, when in fact they've just created another mess that didn't anticipate what could go wrong. Just a horrible company. No wonder they've never earned a spot on any of the top places to work nationally or locally lists.
3/02/2009 4:46 PM
Dutch619m said...
At the C-J in Louisville, we have had good results using our state OSHA. They have answered all of our calls and came in to make the Co properly install unvented parts washer and the power line for the overhead crane that was dragging the floor of the work area and once pulled an eye wash fixture off of the wall. Your Union Shop Steward should be able to help you with contacts. The IBT has a Safety and Health dept that can help also.
3/02/2009 4:50 PM
Anonymous said...
I am confused,how is it that one fired press operator from APP NJ can scare said paper to hire armed guards?And if he maid a bomb threat,was he prosecuted?or investigated? what is the story? If nothing it makes this blog just a little more interesting since he gave his name
3/02/2009 5:35 PM
Anonymous said...
If you look at the various NJ Gannett papers and all the competing papers, daily and weekly, there is plenty of advertisement even in this economy to support them all in the black. Gannett papers are losing their share because they charge too much, not to pay local staff but to send millions a year to McLean to support Dubow & Co.'s golf, limo, private jet, etc. addictions -- oh, and dividends to investors who never have served any tangible, constructive purpose to any local paper, but rather put up cash for the corporation to buy more properties to keep their do-nothing game a'going. The best thing that could happen is if Gannett and the other corporate newspaper owners go bankrupt, and the still-profitable individual papers are sold to local entrepreneurs.
3/02/2009 5:38 PM
Anonymous said...
Don't worry APP -- HOLLIS TOWNS TO THE RESCUE!!
3/02/2009 5:40 PM
Anonymous said...
I am the one who mentioned being told from the rumor mill that this OSHA complaint was the cause for the armed police protection at all the APP doors. Let me be clear: I don't know it for a fact. There was at least one similar episode not long before that, also attributed word-of-mouth to a disgruntled fired employee. I know that employee and believe him when he says he made no threat or anything that could be remotely interpreted as a threat. Now, Ernie tells us the same thing here. So, if the armed police guarding the building for a couple of weeks on two occasions weren't provoked by these employees, then why did the APP hire armed, uniformed off-duty police officers? I can't believe a handful of honchos all have overactive imaginations. Could it have been a clever ploy to defame and discredit the fired workers, all done through the rumor mill, so the rest of us wouldn't find them credible and continue their crusade?
3/02/2009 5:48 PM
Anonymous said...
5:48 PM ... or be afraid the same defamation will happen to us if we speak out against legal or ethical violations at the APP!!!!
3/02/2009 5:52 PM
Anonymous said...
Home delivery subscribers to the Courier-Post in cherry Hill NJ just received a letter saying that there will be an increase in delivery rates effective March 1, 2009. The amount of the increase depends upon the delivery frequency you are on. It looks like it may be about 87 cents but it is unclear if that is an across the board amount or is based on a percentage of the monthly rate you're paying now. "Due to rising costs associated with delivering the newspaper..." is the reason stated. The paper is now physically smaller and their are fewer pages and less content. Would not surprise anyone if they soon plan to increase advertising rates as well. There has been a traditional retail advertising rate increase each May over many years. They keep implementing more and more ways to drive away home delivery subscribers and advertisers. From where I sit, it would make sense to get rid of the so many useless employees they have kept arouund, many of whom are kept because they probably are friends of certain incompetent management. The demise is on the horizon.
3/02/2009 5:52 PM
Anonymous said...
There was a well known cancer cluster in that building for the way they illegally dumped all chemicals through the floors.
3/02/2009 6:03 PM
Anonymous said...
Hi this is Ernie,I don't expect anyone to say anything because I know that you will lose your job.I have bin fired for only doing what it said in our handbook,if you don't tell you are just as guilty as they are,and that is what I told them.I know what you all are saying everyday I read this blog.I feel sorry for the layoffs,stock going down,and the worried minds of you all.I can say that since being fired from Gannett for doing nothing but my job,I have lost my KIDS,HOUSE,CAR,GUITARS,and just about everything that I owned.So I know what you are afraid of,I am living it.I've have bin made fun of on this site,for my use of grammar and spelling.Go ahead and laugh if you want.All I can say is I hope that this kind of crap stops!I'v bin told to go somewhere else to talk about this hole APP thing,but please don't forget I was once a Gannett employee too,and now some of you don't want me here either,and to all of you I say tuff SH&T I am not going away,I want the world to know just what kind of people Gannett are.I also hope that some of the people that did this ,use this site a remember what whey did and WHY and for who
3/02/2009 6:15 PM
Anonymous said...
Regarding APP, OSHA and toxic chemicals - sounds like there is more to the story. Maybe they have been dumping stuff down the drain that they are not supposed to.
3/02/2009 6:15 PM
Anonymous said...
Ernie, are you a licensed plumber? As you noted, the manufacturer's instructions on Clobber forbids it to be sold to or used by anyone but a professional. Gloves, goggles and face shield are required, because the label says it can cause permanent lung damage if inhaled. http://www.herchem.com/specs/clobber.pdf It's regulated under the Federal Hazardous Substance Act. Hercules Chemical Co. might be interested, if you have proof its product was used in violation of directions. Who was the supervisor who instructed you to use Clobber this way? Did you object to anyone before you used it? Silver is the metal that would be disposed in film developing chemicals, although I thought APP removed and sold the silver before disposal (we did pre-Gannett, I know). Silver appears to be relatively low on the metal volatility scale, related to acids. What other metals would be in the drain, and why would they be there?
3/02/2009 6:16 PM
Anonymous said...
What about the mold in the APP ducts that someone was talking about yesterday? Is that part of this same deal with retaliating against a whistleblower?
3/02/2009 6:17 PM
Anonymous said...
MAYBE they have been dumping stuff down the drain that they are not supposed to? They were absolutely dumping illegal chemicals down the hole in the floor on the third floor. Everyone knew about it and no one wanted to sit anywhere near it. It traveled through all the floors.
3/02/2009 6:23 PM
Anonymous said...
What chemicals are on the third floor, since the presses moved to Freehold? And what hole, where? Also, I don't think this cancer cluster in the APP building is well known. I may be part of it and never knew anyone else suffered the same thing. Please expound on that, and how it was known cancers were connected, anonymous 6:03 PM. Word verification: guloging
3/02/2009 6:29 PM
Anonymous said...
"Could it have been a clever ploy to defame and discredit the fired workers, all done through the rumor mill, so the rest of us wouldn't find them credible and continue their crusade?" Management knows it can do that because lazy, stupid, ignorant journalists who should investigate won't. Instead, they'll join in the mindless braying that he's making it up. That's what happens when you have an untrainable work force with few skills. The force has great power over the weak-minded.
3/02/2009 6:30 PM
Anonymous said...
They just put a lid on the hole without cleaning it out when they were done. This is not sealed.
3/02/2009 6:32 PM
Anonymous said...
The smell that was coming out of the air ducts,smelled like old sneakers.you could see the mold coming out of the duct work! They did wash out the ducts,don't know what they used?but the smell went away.I knew someone that worked in maintenance that said the stuff was all over,but APP could not spend the money to clean it properly.And I believe it! this was a separate incident from the other two,and I was fired before I could check this out,But think for yourselves,do you think they spent the money to check the other side of the building? I don't think so.And whistleblowers are not supposed to take any heat Ha that's a good one(WANT TO BUY SOME GANNETT STOCK?) sorry that was bad,how about a bridge?
3/02/2009 6:33 PM
Anonymous said...
6:30 PM, I don't agree the APP's newsroom is full of people who are untrainable to be journalists, but I have to agree the management has rewarded those who are willing to report stories according to a company agenda and not by traditional watchdog journalism standards. There are good journalists in the newsroom who have done good work ... and they've been allowed to when the stories don't cross the corporate agenda and after their puff pieces are done. Real journalism has been obviously on a back burner since Gannett bought the newspaper, IMHO. But from what I understand, managing editor Gary S is the only suit who survived from the old APP, isn't he, and has been running the show? If I remember right, he may not have had a full journalism education himself, although I don't know that for a fact.
3/02/2009 6:43 PM
Anonymous said...
6:30pm Your speech pattern, snobbery and language will give you away.
3/02/2009 6:46 PM
Anonymous said...
Ya Dutch that is about the only thing a union is good for. Oh wait, a non union employee can make that call too. Keep paying that dues lemming!
3/02/2009 6:50 PM
Anonymous said...
6:46 PM, I think those qualities can be applied to most of us former and past APP newsroom staff. Personally, I find your post threatening, or at least chilling, to 6:30 PM, who is entitled to speak his/her point of view without fear of being outed. I've found that most people, including me, aren't even correct when they start trying to guess who is making anonymous posts.
3/02/2009 6:53 PM
Anonymous said...
Not buying Ernie's story. Sorry Ernie but I ahve found OSHA to be so anti employer they'd enver miss an opportunity to hammer a newspaper site. You sneeze at OSHA and they send in the troops. Nah, your story doesn't hold water.
3/02/2009 6:53 PM
Anonymous said...
Thank you! That is what I've bin trying to tell you all,Other chems.were dumped directly into the floor drains.
No I did not use the Clobber,I was in the old metal shop were the plate maker and the copiers were.After on of this spills,I got sick and was put in the hospital for 1 week,wile in there I was given so many tests.They could not figure out what was wrong.First they treated me for a hart attack! then after 2 days the docs told me I don't have a hart attack.Then they started treating me for legionnaire's disease,after a day they said that I don't have this either.After 2 more days my fever broke and they sent me home.(but here is the most important thing,just before I was realest my Doc asked if anyone ever talked to me about metastatic cancer? No why,you have spots in your liver and lymph nodes swollen all over your body. I did not know for a couple of months after the fact that the stuff that was pored into the drains was sulfuric acid and what it could do to you!Ya so when I found out that the stuff that made my nose bleed and eyes burn was this I was pissed,that I nor anyone else was told (were was the right to know act laws? So that is why I say to you all PLEASE BE CAREFUL no matter were you work in this building
3/02/2009 6:56 PM
Anonymous said...
The newspaper presses at the APP are in Freehold. Ernie is referring to the print shop, still in Neptune, that brints flyers, mailers and inserts for Addresses Unlimited.
3/02/2009 6:58 PM
Anonymous said...
To 6:53 Doesn'T hold water ,JUST LIKE THE DRAINS AT APP.But just so you know,I got the pics.Ones that I took and all that they took OK! so hook me up to a polygraph I'm ready to go!
3/02/2009 7:05 PM
Anonymous said...
6:53 PM, are you speaking about experience in New Jersey, or elsewhere?
I also have experience reporting on OSHA house calls, and I don't agree with either your extreme or Ernie's.
The federal agency pretty much has to have the accusation in writing and with some clarity of where violations fall, which doesn't seem to be Ernie's forte. I think he said he telephoned authorities, and they responded with a letter to the APP publisher.
I don't write off Ernie's claims so quickly. I know from experience that building has some bad problems.
In fact, the APP building could have been sold for top dollar about a year ago, because a big outlet mall was built next door, finishing just as the economy collapsed. So few people work at the Neptune site now that it would be easy to relocate to the Freehold press plant, even if it meant building a quick addition on its many rural acres out there.
Donovan's excuse for not doing that -- that we will need all the space in Neptune and Freehold soon -- didn't pass the smell test, even if you considered the notion that all NJ Gannett might move to one central location (the reason to do that would be to reduce duplicative jobs).
So, perhaps Gannett didn't sell the Neptune building when it had the chance for big bucks because maybe it can't sell the Neptune building without exposing it as a hazardous waste cleanup site. I'm just speculating, mind you. But under New Jersey's hazardous waste cleanup regulations, such a determination would be very, very costly to Gannett.
3/02/2009 7:09 PM
7:25 pm: I'm not trying to encourage more comments; instead, I'm trying to organize them differently, to the extent I can with this Blogger software.
ReplyDelete7:27 pm: Widows and orphans are old typography terms for lines of type with just a few words.
ReplyDeleteI use the term in place of a label called "miscellaneous."
Now that I think about it, this didn't need any label at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm moving this over from the Real Time Comments forum:
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
You know,It just hit me.You don't think that my story is true,WELL ARENT YOU THE GOOD NEWS GUY.So without any info you just come to your own conclusion.MABY THAT IS WHY NEWS PAPERS ARE DIEING!
3/02/2009 7:12 PM
Anonymous said...
Ernie, do you know who did pour Clobber in the drain without due diligence in checking what was in the drain or compliance with manufacturer's specs, if that's what happened? Now that some time has gone by, do you have a metastasized cancer? Earlier you mentioned crystallized lymph nodes, which I've never heard of. When did this all happen, by the way? And do you know if that drain goes to a septic tank or to the municipal sewage plant? I'm not following why anything old, from some time before 1998 when page films were done on the 3rd floor in Neptune, would still be in the drain.
3/02/2009 7:18 PM
Anonymous said...
Dear 7:09 thank you to,because that is exactly what I told Bob Collins!!!AND THE MONMITH HELTH DEPT,and OSHA.I've got all the letters and again I'm sorry that I don't live up to your high standards of righting.But the hell with me! CHECK MY INFO OUT FOR YOUR SELF AND SEE JUST HOW FAR YOU GET WITH THE APP MANAGEMENT STAFF! You know Mike Lorranca,and Kathy Abatemarco know the truth!they were there when I tried to talk to Bob Collins they know.And I hope that it haunts them wherever they go.
3/02/2009 7:25 PM
Anonymous said...
I do know the two who pored the stuff in the drains!I do know who told my fellow workers to avoid me like the place.I do know that all the people that I have mentioned are liars! And as for the cancer I lost my insurance when I was fired.I don't know and I'm scared to death!!
3/02/2009 7:32 PM
Ernie,
ReplyDeleteHow long ago were you in the hospital?
I believe Ernie's telling the truth and maybe OSHA should check out the drains, etc.
ReplyDeleteIf you went to the area by the freight elevators, mail room and print shop (2nd flr) and up to the hallways above, on the 3rd floor between circ and finance, on several occassions, there was a nasty smell and alot of people would get upset stomachs and/or headaches from the smell. When this happened, Ernie had said that they had put some chemical in the drain and he had pointed out where the raw sewage had come up and the stains that were there from the from the chemicals. At one point there was a sign above the print shop about it. Not specifics, but a "caution" sign. If there is truth to his story, we all, present and former, may be getting or have gotten ill from this! Ernie - glad you got pictures! And hope and pray for you! Not from UFO land.
Thank you guys,I never wanted anyone to get sick,I only tried to warn of trouble,I to think that they cant sell the building due to,well who knows what!I am not making this up, to the daughters I say check it out but be careful,I wish someone could help,but after all this time who knows.I am admittedly not that good at this.I am tired of all this,and am tired of not felling good.If your at APP still,I hope that are in good health.
ReplyDeleteBob Collins was in supposed litigation with the developer of the Outlet Mall, Donovan has said that his team has worked very hard with the new neighbor to get back into thier graces, I guess he smelled ad revenue while Collins just stunk!
ReplyDeleteto say Collins was in litigation is the understatement of the century. APP had at least one FT staffer devoted to what became a beat in the newsroom, covering the development of that land that abuts the Neptune property. They had more Page One stories about that damned outlet mall than they did about any other government agency. I think there were two, perhaps three lawsuits that were filed, so who knows how much of Gannett's money was spent on keeping the developer out. Not sure if it was because it was an "outlet" mall or just because Bob Collins didn't want the view from his corner office obstructed ... not that he probably could see through the clouds of smoke in what otherwise was a smoke-free office.
ReplyDeleteNot surprising that the new regieme is trying to win over the developers / operators. The outlet mall has nothing but high-end stores, but they certainly don't advertise ... now, they've got Walmat to the east and Outlets to the West ...
Not that I'm bitter or nothing,but I hope that Bob C.had a lot of Gannett,and can now reap its benefits caused by himself and his kind it could happen to a nicer bunch
ReplyDeletec-p building also is a sick one. it had asbestoes in the ceiling, some of it was removed from the ceiling in composing. but that ceiling connects to the newsroom where people are always sick. in the past 7 years, you've had at least four people develop cancer, (3 sadly died) another person had lung tumors and so on. Ernie may not be a wordsmith, but I think he knows what he is talking about. the rat-infected, asbestoe-tainted c-p building should be demolished b/f we all get a terminal disease. but don't expect walt to get involved. he's never had a clue and is only into c-h-a.
ReplyDeleteHay this is Ernie again,I guess I opened up a can of something here,and I am not trying to scare anyone just want to make people aware!
ReplyDeleteOn another note,I need to know what is wrong with my wording? really I need the criticism no kidding!
Lets not forget the Ocean County Observer building that was also reeking with mold and god knows what else..Gannett put that building up for sale over a year ago, it still sits empty, shuttered the Ocean County Observer, rented newer, nicer office space for us, unfortunatly its only a 2 year lease..writing on the wall?
ReplyDeleteErnie,
ReplyDeleteYou made your points, and that's all that matters. Hope you're doing okay.
Thanks,I'm still here,though it seems some would hope I would just go away,or die,but that's OK to.And to any Gannett building potential buyers ASK TO SEE THE PERK TEST, tell them (Ernie sent ya)LOL
ReplyDeleteThe Courier post building is truly a dump. Was built in the middle 1950's and after Gannett took over not much of anything has been done to maintain the place. Rather, as things were taken away from the employees, the place looked worse than many warehouses. The only time anything was done such as painting or fixing things up it wss related to a site visit by "corporate" or some empty suits from somewhere else. Until very recently, the carpets were so disgusting and dirty but some were replaced. Of course there is no maintenance to keep things clean. Filth and chunks of junk blow out of the heating and air conditioning vents which probably have not been cleaned and or santized in 50 years. Many of us have expressed health concerns but nothing happens. As is company policy, if you complaiin about anything you are labeled a trouble maker and target for the a--holes who are incharge. The publisher, Lafferty, stays in his isolated office and doesn't have to suffer from the conditions like the rest of us. It's just time before he goes away and another butt head comes in to follow the directives of the morons at Virginia HQ. In the meantime, this publisher keeps a group of losers in place to report directly to him.
ReplyDeleteYou know,its not bad enough that you are asked to do the work of many,or that you are expected to kiss butt to get your job done.Or that you have to hope you wont get cut the next round of layoffs.Or that the stock you have might not be worth the paper its printed on.But that the place were you work could be hurting,well its all a bit much.
ReplyDeleteBig wads of black soot used to fall out of the ducts at CN, especially noticeable on top of the filing cabinets in the library. Sometimes when trucks idled outside near a vent, the fumes came into the building and all of us the newsroom could smell them.
ReplyDeleteGood to see we have people still saying he's making it up, or the standard ignorant journalist retort: "Well, I've never heard of that, so it can't be true."
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens when an untrainable work force is given much rein. Weak minds, little resistance.
10:25 I'm in the building do you think he's full of sht
ReplyDeleteI am confused,how is it that one fired press operator from APP NJ can scare said paper to hire armed guards?And if he maid a bomb threat,was he prosecuted?or investigated? what is the story? If nothing it makes this blog just a little more interesting since he gave his name
ReplyDelete3/02/2009 5:35 PM
I was there the day they cleared the Neptune office. The powers that be -- aka Skip -- didn't tell anyone what the hell was going on. Even better, they tried to deny anything was going on when NJ 101.5 got wind of all the cop activity.
Info got around pretty quick that they were accusing Ernie of making threats, but people close to him started telling his side of things just as quickly.
To answer your questions, he was never charged with anything, never prosecuted.
And the other incident you're referring to: Not long after Skip was sent to the Home News to screw things up there, he sold his home in Manahawkin and told people he was moving, claiming that a guy he'd fired had showed up on his doorstep and threatened him. If that's true, why didn't Skip file a police complaint?
Why? Because it's bullshit, like everything else that ever came out of Skip's mouth.
Just another of his fear and intimidation tactics, that's all. Skip doesn't have to worry about the people he shit on, though. The karma gods will fix his little red wagon someday, I'm sure of it.
WOW I don't hear that one,I new that I got blamed for stuff but that to me is new thanks.Do you want to know something? After all that APP did,its hard for me to get to made at the powers that be.I go back and forth with it.I don't know why Skip would say that,but trying to keep your job when you worked for Bob must have bin tuff.And I would like to think that thees people did have some feelings.Not forgiving just trying to understand.
ReplyDeleteJim I don't know you, nor you me ,but I think that this site has let me speak to the big picture at APP more then OSHA,or the Health DEPT.Thank you.I didnt mean to stop the main train of thought the stock or job cuts.but I think that it is all important Thanks!
ReplyDelete"I'm in the building do you think he's full of sht"
ReplyDeleteWow, you're in the building. He's the one posting the details.
When you get your thumb out of your pants, let us know.
11:04 What ?
ReplyDeleteAPP & Ernie, his accusations are very believable. I worked there for a few years and smelled the stank here and there in the building. As well as the fumes in the print shop area. I remember when he was fired too and when the building was evacuated from supposed threats and no one in management would tell us what the hell was going on. Not a word! Sleaze company! Glad I don't breath that air anymore, feel terrible for Ernie and the few left in that crud building! Non the less, the air I currently breath is better, but not much! Good luck Ernie and keep at those cruds in Neptune. Others let go at Neptune... back up Ernie with a comment. Word verification: sadner
ReplyDelete11:14 -- Huh?
ReplyDeleteI guess the thumb is in your ear now. Hope you washed it off first.