Thursday, September 09, 2010
Phoenix | Tension amid today's Corporate visit
CEO Craig Dubow and other top dogs are scheduled to visit The Arizona Republic and KPNX-TV today, and I hear some employees may not be content with merely asking questions during a "Town Hall'' meeting this afternoon.
26 comments:
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Jim,
ReplyDeleteCare to share? I work in Phoenix and while morale is worse now than I've ever seen (even during layoffs and buyouts last year), I can't imagine anyone, except possibly press room personnel who are really getting screwed, doing much beyond asking questions.
thanks
Hmmm, there may be a few people who are pre-meeting rabble rousers (they won't say anything when push comes to shove), but it's my sense that people find this gathering more of an annoyance. Some departments are being required to go. Others can't go because of deadlines. General impression is that nothing of importance will be revealed.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you implying the employees would rather do?
ReplyDeleteThey are visiting Palm Springs today. Should be interesting.
How come the HR lady doesn't speak?
ReplyDeleteBob Dickeys special kids should quit crying. There are newspapers in Gannettland with far less who are asked to do far more.
ReplyDeleteThis same panel did a town hall discussion in Reno a few months back. No staffers asked any tough questions or put the brass on the spot. Just a bunch of corporate rah-rah BS.
ReplyDeleteThis could be an interesting meeting. It's 1PM, an hour before the meeting, and about 20 people from the press room are gathering off property, some with US flags, to walk over to the meeting. Building security has been out to take note and photograph them.
ReplyDelete. they didn't even come upstairs to the newsroom and .production depts. an hour and a half worth of talk .. .(I'm in palm springs) one good direct question was asked" we have car payments and mortgages.. we are worried about layoffs" .. i am sorry but i can't basically promise you anything.. (not his exact words.. i was falling asleep )the prod. dept wanted to know about the ads being done on the off sites.. "oh sorry out of time.. " there was a total of 4 questions asked.. what anything of value said to me ? nope.. alot of disgruntled employees.. have fun phoenix..
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ReplyDeletethe folks in Phoenix and Palm Springs dont have the stones to speak up in an actual meeting. They will talk big before and about the meeting but will just sit there and kiss Dickeys ass when they have a chance
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame that most of the Gannetteers walk by and ignored us Pressroom picketers and refused our flyers we passed out.Sad times indeed.
ReplyDeleteI asked Mr.Big if things look so good why do they want the Pressroom to take major cuts? He put his dancing shoes for that one and I walked out the door.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is the same all across America. Corp America rules and everyone except a select few are actually willing to put their lively hood on the line. This select few is never the big dogs but rather the only ones that have a vision. This vision comes from everyone else’s bickering, all the complaints and gripes. All of which combines to form an idealism that is worth putting their own personal family in jeopardy it is worth what could and should be the outcome.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that when one of these select few does pick the right time and jumps under the bus all of the complainers, gripers, and bickerers refuse to stand up and push the bus off. Chicken shits! The leaders of this company gave themselves raises and promotions last year; this was the year that they fired way more than 1500 employees. (More than half of the people who lost their jobs were not full time and/or were contract workers so they did not count or did not have to be counted in the reports) Yet they were not done because after they fired all of those people they also furloughed everyone a few times as well as cut hours for the hourly employees. Once again the bottom line workers take the brunt of the problem while the executives make even more money. This is not a new trend. This story fits most big businesses that have claimed hardship during the recession. This is America’s problem and until America realizes and pushes the bus off of the person who happened the throw themselves under it for the sake of their co-workers, for the sake of the complainer, the gripers, and the bickerers; for the hope, the vision, the idealism that what should be can be. Then American will continue to struggle, to be un-untied, to allow the ones that have to feed the greed to say I must have more even if it means taking it from your kids. But I don’t know you so why would I care about your kids? I only care about myself. I can’t see the big issue. As long as my kids get a fourth house then yours can starve. Wake up! Chicken Shits! UNITED WE STAND falling is not a good or smart option.
Following is an edited version of a comment posted by Anonymous@7:09 p.m.:
ReplyDeleteNothing much beyond BS cheerleading at the Phoenix meeting. It started a few minutes late.
Martore and Dubow [XXXXX] stressed how digital is doing very well. Nearly a $1Billion in revenue (actually about $950million). Everyone cheered.
A couple of questions about the design centers and how that would impact both the Republic and the smaller papers that would be designed at the Republic, but no specific answers about either. Absolutely no specifics on the merger of the Republic and KPNX newsrooms. Which is really all the Rep & KPNX newsroom folks wanted to hear about.
The only person who had the courage to ask an even close to hard question was the president of the pressman's union who asked why, when others at Phoenix newspapers are getting raises, the pressman are suffering pay cuts. Dubow said something about looking for efficiencies then stressed how he took a 37% pay cut himself. I didn't hear Martore say anything about her salary.
Pretty much a wasted afternoon.
I think they wanted us to join hands and sing Kumbaya but they only had the room for 90 minutes and ran out of time.
Compensation for Martore 2009: $4,018,194.00 according to http://people.forbes.com/profile/gracia-c-martore/35784 .
ReplyDeleteCompensation for Dubow for 2009: $4,698,692.00 according to http://people.forbes.com/profile/craig-a-dubow/35769 .
I'd be interested to see how a 37% cut for either of them compares to a pressman's salary.
And I wouldn't say "cheering" was entirely accurate. Is it practical to expect that every employee walk out of the meeting? Would be interesting, though...
Holy shit. How could Dubow talk about his "pay cut" with a straight face?
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ReplyDeleteThe Pressmen in Phoenix were the only Union not to agree to furloughs over the last couple of years and now the expect us to feel sorry for them. The economy sucks and they were not willing to do what everyone else had to do. I do not feel sorry for them at all.
ReplyDelete3:41 -- You are right on. Bravo. Hopefully some folks take your post to heart.
ReplyDelete8:43 and others -- Nice points. When Dubow says he took a 37% paycut, he is trying to placate people. Most of a CEO's earnings comes from sources outside base pay, and when he willingly took a pay cut it was to base pay only.
If Dubow exercises the stock options he was awarded when GCI hit record lows (I'm not sure if he's done any selling of those) his salary for the last year will be astronomical. So, when he says he took a 37% paycut he may not be lying, but he is being intentionally misleading.
In other words, he's a good, old-fashioned corporate asshole who hopes his employees aren't smart enough to see the truth.
I'd like to see how he reacted if the board proposed a true 12% paycut for him. Meaning that much of a decline in his gross compensation (including bonuses, stock options, perks, etc.). In his case, base pay means very little.
Not to defend the guy, but Dr. Strangelove did take the same three week haircut most highly compensated Gannett employees took last year and did "voluntarily" agree to cut his base pay from $1.2 million in 2008 to $1 million in 2009, according to Gannett's annual information statement. That certainly doesn't amount to a 37% cut, given that his bonus rose to $1,450,000 from 875,000 in 2008. Overall compensation in 2009: $4.7 million. 2008: $3.14 million.
ReplyDeleteThe bigger question is why with all of the cuts and furloughs, Dubow & other executives got any bonus at all.
That's it exactly, 2:59 p.m. Why did Dubow and Co. get bonuses as the stock sunk into the gutter?
ReplyDeleteAnd don't give me that "look how they've brought the company back from the brink" bullshit!
They're the ones who got it to such a sorry state by running up debts that would be unpayable without massive personnel and benefit (pension) cuts.
So, why did they get the bonuses? Because they're in charge and have a board of directors who for the most part has no investment in the company.
Get used to it. The employees are basically share croppers who plow and sow at corporate's bidding.
Bravo Pressman President,at least you have huevos.
ReplyDeleteFollowing is an edited comment originally posted by 11:19 a.m. yesterday:
ReplyDeleteThe presentation in Palm Springs was a joke. 90 minutes of crap we didn't need to hear and about 4 questions before they had to go. A lot of us had things we wanted to know and it got cut short by their dog & pony show. What a waste of jet fuel and a [XXXXX].
Brace up everyone. The worst is yet to come. If Dubow leaves - there's been some speculation about that - Martore is waiting in the wings just like McCorkindale, the first bean counter to take the helm.
ReplyDeleteIf Martore gets the captain's seat, everyone better hold on tight to their's. Or do the smart thing. Get ready to jump ship before there are no more lifeboats.
They want their reporters to be aggressive and ask tough questions outside the newsroom.
ReplyDeleteYet at "home," they want us to be deferential and respectful and be satisfied with bullshitty softball answers.
I just love Gannett!
Re 11:22 a.m.....How right you are! Big cheeses in Westchester really resented it not long ago it when a local weekly put their addresses in the paper.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with deferential and respectful in a meeting with management these days is that there's so little to respect.
Don't think for a minute that the local yokels haven't benefited financially from the decimation of their staffs just as corporate has.
I used to have editors and publishers I respected. No more.