Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Detroit | Employees organize against pay cuts

In an e-mail, a reader tells me the following:

Folks in Detroit would much appreciate it if you could help us spread the word about our fight against 12% pay cuts at the Gannett-owned Free Press, MediaNews Group's Detroit News and the Gannett-controlled Detroit Media Partnership.

We have a Facebook page we're hoping will drum up support.

Workers and supporters are wearing "No -12%" buttons. Negotiations are ongoing.
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15 comments:

  1. Anonymous9/08/2010 8:47 AM

    The employees at the News and Free Press will be begging for a 12 percent pay cut in order to keep their jobs when Gannett sells the Freep to Singleton in a few weeks and then he combines the two papers and wants to layoff 40 percent of the editorial staffs -- the only place left to consolidate there. You don't think the bigwigs didn't meet with Singleton to hash all this out during their recent visit to Colorado, do you?

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  2. Anonymous9/08/2010 10:53 AM

    Nice! The Detroiters should definitely stick to their guns. All this crap about everyone needing to make sacrifices has gotten really old.

    Gannett has already stripped that once-great paper to the bone ... and Dubow and some other executives have made record profits during the recession thanks to stock options that more than quadrupled in value.

    Gannett management IS NOT making sacrifices. So, employees should fight to retain every penny and perk.

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  3. Anonymous9/08/2010 12:58 PM

    Wow!
    "Good Luck"

    No comments here (other than this one I'm typing now) nor on Facebook!

    Wonder what's up with that?

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  4. Anonymous9/08/2010 1:12 PM

    This demand of the unions is Gannett's exit strategy from Detroit: Make harsh demands of unions that delay a contract until October or later, then throw up your hands and turn the whole operation over to Dean Singleton.

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  5. Anonymous9/08/2010 1:36 PM

    Am I mistaken or did CEO Craig Dubow get what amounted to a 17% raise? If Gannett is truely in trouble they need to lead by example, otherwise, yes... ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!

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  6. Jim Hopkins9/08/2010 2:09 PM

    8:47 a.m.: Even if that scenario is true, it's not that easy. Any combination of ownership or merging of the papers would require U.S. Justice Department review and approval. This doesn't mean approval wouldn't come -- Justice OK'd the Honolulu deal, after all -- but that's at least one obstacle.

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  7. Anonymous9/08/2010 2:22 PM

    This alleged review by the fearsome Justice Department of JOA. I have seldom seen since a toothless law as the JOA, but that should come as no surprise since the newspaper industry wrote it and railroaded it through Congress. Name just one JOA the Justice Department has rejected? Name just one petition to merge that the Justice Department has rejected. Albuquerque? No. Denver? No. Tucson? No. Honolulu. No. This law is a farce and although it says the Justice Department should review these business arrangements, it is nothing more than a rubber stamp. If it is in the economic interests of both it will happen.

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  8. Anonymous9/08/2010 6:09 PM

    The writing has been on the wall for some time now. The area simply doesn't have enough people to support two papers.

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  9. Anonymous9/08/2010 10:20 PM

    If you're really pissed at Dubow, sell any/all company stock you might own. Directors and above have sizeable pay tied to its performance. You should be diversified anyway. If Gannett goes down the tube, you not only lose your job but your backup 401(k) with it.

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  10. Anonymous9/09/2010 1:54 AM

    What does a reporter with 15 years of experience in Detroit earn per hour? I'd like to know what 12% equals.

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  11. Anonymous9/09/2010 10:24 AM

    From MLIVE: Staffers at Detroit dailies fight 12 percent pay cut; rumors of consolidation still run wild

    http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/09/staffers_at_detroit_dailies_fi.html

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  12. Anonymous9/09/2010 12:21 PM

    1:54 -- Pay varies widely around Gannett, but I would guess a person with the type of experience you're talking about would be looking at a cut of nearly $10,000 per year. I based that on a salary of approximately $80,000 per year. Of course, there are some people who are making more or less, but that's a ballpark for a veteran reporter with a good deal of experience.

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  13. Anonymous9/09/2010 12:34 PM

    Jim: A change in the JOA doesn't necessarily mean a merging of the papers. It could simply mean a switching of roles: Gannett becomes the junior partner and continues to own the Free Press, while MediaNews Group becomes the senior partner and continues to own The Detroit News. The News becomes the seven-days-a-week paper, meaning that it gets the Sunday paper, and the Freep becomes a Monday-Saturday paper.

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  14. Anonymous9/09/2010 9:54 PM

    Who would finance Singleton's purchase of the Free Press? Can he even afford to buy another unprofitable newspaper?

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  15. Anonymous9/14/2010 12:45 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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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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