Newsroom escapes latest JS layoffs

Another round of layoffs hit Journal Sentinel Inc. employees last week, but no one from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newsroom was affected.

Management has declined to confirm details of the latest downsizing. However, various sources have told Milwaukee Newspaper Guild leaders that anywhere from 20 to 50 workers were cut. It's possible the larger number includes other parts of Journal Communications, because we've heard of several layoffs at the suburban weeklies in the Journal Community Publishing Group.

In response to questions from Guild representatives, managers have said they have no plans for further downsizing in the newsroom at this time.

Meanwhile, bargaining on a new contract remains at a standstill while company negotiators rethink their strategy in light of the economic downturn. Talks are not expected to resume until January at the earliest.

At our Dec. 2 membership meeting, the Guild's bargaining committee offered answers to several frequently asked questions about the situation:

Q. What happens when the contract expires Dec. 31?
A. Nothing. Our current contract has a clause that automatically extends all of its provisions while negotiations continue on a new agreement. The company has proposed eliminating the automatic extension clause in the next contract, while the Guild is seeking to keep it.

Q. Does that extension include the job security provisions?
A. Yes. Any economic downsizing still requires the company to provide 60 days’ notice or 60 days’ pay, plus two weeks of severance pay for each year of service. In negotiations on the next contract, the company is seeking to provide only legally required notice (still 60 days, but only when a large percentage of workers is being cut) and to slice the severance pay in half, to one week for each year of service, the same as in other Journal Sentinel unions' contracts. Guild negotiators have said that keeping the current job security protection is a high priority.

Q. What about raises?
A. Until we agree on a new contract, we won't be getting across-the-board raises, and the minimum pay scales and differential rates will not increase. Management is still free to give merit raises and bonuses, but few people usually get them until a new contract is in place.

Also at the membership meeting, Waukesha County Bureau reporter Erin Richards was elected to fill the remainder of Dani McClain's term as an at-large Executive Board member. McClain left her job as a metro reporter to take a position with a California-based advocacy organization. Richards will serve until Sept. 30, 2009.