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Topic: Miscellaneous items
Date/Time: 11/13/2008 3:02:35 PM
Title: Union: Tribune plans more cuts at Baltimore Sun
Posted By: Jim Romenesko
 
Newspaper Guild release

TRIBUNE CO. PLANS NEW ROUND OF JOB CUTS AT THE BALTIMORE SUN AS WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE NEWSPAPER GUILD FIGHTS TO SAVE POSITIONS

Cuts are expected within days and will come just four months after 100 employees were slashed from the newspaper’s payroll in a combination of buyouts and firings.

BALTIMORE, MD, November 13, 2008 – Just four months after Tribune Co. slashed 100 jobs from The Baltimore Sun’s payroll, including 60 from the newsroom, the company is planning a new round of cuts, according to representatives of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild.

The cuts, which are expected to be announced any day, will likely be felt throughout The Baltimore Sun, including the newsroom. Employees will not be offered buyouts as in the past, but will receive layoff notices, according to Guild officials.

Guild officials said neither Tribune nor The Baltimore Sun’s management would disclose how many employees will lose their jobs in this latest cutback.

"Baltimore Sun managers have made it clear that no corner of the newspaper is safe from further cuts," said Cet Parks, Executive Director for the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, which represents about 400 Baltimore Sun employees “Saving money, not jobs, is management’s ultimate goal. Our mission all along has been to convince management that the paper needs to retain dedicated employees to continue putting out a competitive newspaper, but they refuse to listen.”

The cuts are coming after 100 Baltimore Sun employees were let go last July in a combination of buyouts and firings. That reduction in staff was preceded by the buyouts of 45 employees this past March and in June of 2007. The newspaper’s work force represented by the Guild has shrunk by more than 50 percent through buyouts, layoffs and departures since the Chicago-based Tribune took over in 2000. The Guild represents reporters, photographers, columnists, copy editors, designers, advertising personnel, sales assistants, customer service representatives, finance specialists, productions and systems support at The Baltimore Sun.

“We have pleaded with the company not to cut anymore jobs for fear that the newspaper will sustain irreparable damage, but management says it has no alternative but to reduce the number of employees who put out the paper,” said Angie Kuhl, Unit Chair of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild. “We have argued that cutting more employees is not a successful strategy because every business owner knows that you can’t grow profitably by cutting staff.

Parks said all of Baltimore is suffering at the hands of Tribune’s mismanagement.

"Tribune's dangerous business strategy has saddled the newspaper with billions of dollars in debt and now employees in Baltimore are bearing the brunt of these decisions,” Parks said. “The Baltimore Sun is still a significant employer, but it is quickly being diminished by a thoughtless group in Chicago that cares little about the Baltimore community."

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