California Media Workers Guild member Carl Hall just let us know that
the union and Hearst management might have come to terms. As announced
on their site, said terms include “expanded management ability to lay off employees without regard to seniority.”
It’s been suggested that up to 150 guild employees in the newsroom alone will be cut, not to mention the employees in all the other departments that work to get the paper on your screen or doorstep. Some have suggested that the total percent of employees will have to be closer to 47%.
Keep
in mind, too, that this is just the guild employees we’re talking
about. Carl told us that cuts to management (that is, anyone who has
someone reporting to them, from editors to ad managers to marketing
bosses) will be proportional. He noted that in the newsroom, for
example, there are about 40 exempt employees. That means that we’ll see 15 or so of those folks ushered out the door.
The Guild hopes to vote as soon as Thursday, but is recommending its members take this deal.
