Update:
Board Agent Irma Hernandez confirmed she will be at the Olympic Plant on Friday February 29th to distribute owed meal tickets to all collective bargaining unit employees from the Olympic Pressroom. Please retrieve your tickets so she can sign you off of her list as recieving your tickets. She has no desire to take any tickets back to her office, so pick yours up.
8:00am to 10:00am
1:00pm to 3:00pm
8:30pm to 10:30pm
FOR THE RECORD: This settlement was reached between the NLRB and the company. The company's terms of the settlement as well as dollar amounts were proposed to, and agreed to by the NLRB. The Union did not contest the settlement agreement simply because it resolved our ULP for discontinuing the program without collective bargaining.
This settlement was approved by the NLRB Regional Director, James Smalls many months ago and had no connection with the cuts being sought by the company now.
This company just paid Fitzsimons millions and created new executive positions. Chicago is still shitting in L.A.'s backyard and some of you still believe the Union is the bad guy! It's not the Union who looks for cuts, the union fights to save jobs and benefits, you cannot say the same for this company, I don't give a rats ass who owns it!
Zell's word on cuts lasted less than one week. He knows what he can do with the pool tables and meal tickets. Our concern is and should be everyones, is to make sure Gideon Brown continues to put food on the table for his family.
GCC/IBT Local 140-N Blog
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Meal Ticket Settlement
As many of you remember the company agreed to make whole the bargaining unit for meal tickets that were owed when the meal ticket incentive was abruptly discontinued without collective bargaining.
That has been completed and it was determined as part of the settlement that an amount of approximately $19,000.00 was owed. National Labor Relations Board agent Irma Hernandez will be in Orange County on February 28th to distribute the meal tickets to bargaining unit employees. Please see Irma and retrieve your tickets. Some will recieve one more or one less than others simply because it was impossible to divide the numbers equally. The board decided how many each individual is to recieve, not the company or the union.
Those times will be:
8:00am to 10:00am
1:00pm to 3:00pm
8:30pm to 10:30pm
I am awaiting a confirmation from board agent Irma Hernandez to distribute at Olympic and will post as soon as I receive notification from her.
This brings no relief considering the recent news of cuts, but it will put to rest the meal ticket settlement.
That has been completed and it was determined as part of the settlement that an amount of approximately $19,000.00 was owed. National Labor Relations Board agent Irma Hernandez will be in Orange County on February 28th to distribute the meal tickets to bargaining unit employees. Please see Irma and retrieve your tickets. Some will recieve one more or one less than others simply because it was impossible to divide the numbers equally. The board decided how many each individual is to recieve, not the company or the union.
Those times will be:
8:00am to 10:00am
1:00pm to 3:00pm
8:30pm to 10:30pm
I am awaiting a confirmation from board agent Irma Hernandez to distribute at Olympic and will post as soon as I receive notification from her.
This brings no relief considering the recent news of cuts, but it will put to rest the meal ticket settlement.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
another trick !!
Just for the record, I saw a voluntary seperation program posted. I inquired and was told by management that it was not for the pressroom. So why is it posted in the pressroom ?? Gee I guess those nice management guys are just trying to keep us informed.lolol
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Negotiation Update #9
As many of you are aware by way of Russ Newton's Updates, we were informed of the company's desire to cut 1.8 million dollars from the pressrooms budgets.
The timing of announcement is very questionable because of our current negotiations.
In San Diego at the Union Tribune, management there is going forward with changes they proposed in their pressroom and mailroom without further negotiations. They intend on implementing those changes at approximately the same time The Times representatives indicated they intend on going forward with cost saving measures they have drawn up for our pressrooms. It curiously appears that our management and management in San Diego are in collusion, possibly in attempts of weaking the bargaining process in both locations.
Management asked the negotiation committee to participate in what is referred to as "decisional bargaining" which allows us to essentially offer suggestions and or proposals to help them arrive at 1.8 million in savings from our shops. Lead Counsel for the company, Tim Fair stated that by law they are not obligated to engage in decisional bargaining.
Participating in this process would give the misconception that we are responsible for the cuts and not the company, which is possibly the reason for their decision to do so.
Decisional bargaining puts the onus of these cuts on us and we are approaching the decisional bargaining process cautiously. We attempted to have the company's representatives disclose what plans they have should we not offer any suggestions on where they can achieve these sought after savings, to which elusiveness was all we could obtain in their answers.
Before we attempt to assist management in making these cuts, we requested information pertaining to pressroom budgets for the last 3 years as well as overtime paid to bargaining unit employees during those same periods. We are also seeking information regarding savings earned by the company as a result of previous pressroom buyouts. We have also asked for information pertaining to cuts and dollar amounts sought in departments other than the pressroom as well as a total amount sought throughout the company.
With the requested information, we will be able to determine exactly what our options are and how to approach this latest attack on our pressrooms.
International President George Tedeschi as well as our attorney Adam Stern have been informed of this situation and they are evaluating our options and will, along with our Representative Mike Huggins, guide us through another attempt by management to save the company by cutting the heads off the people who actually produce the final byproduct of our company, the newspaper itself.
We would love to hear any suggestions on how the company can reach the savings they seek from our department. Keep in mind, they do visit this site regularly and I'm sure they'd love to see them also.
The timing of announcement is very questionable because of our current negotiations.
In San Diego at the Union Tribune, management there is going forward with changes they proposed in their pressroom and mailroom without further negotiations. They intend on implementing those changes at approximately the same time The Times representatives indicated they intend on going forward with cost saving measures they have drawn up for our pressrooms. It curiously appears that our management and management in San Diego are in collusion, possibly in attempts of weaking the bargaining process in both locations.
Management asked the negotiation committee to participate in what is referred to as "decisional bargaining" which allows us to essentially offer suggestions and or proposals to help them arrive at 1.8 million in savings from our shops. Lead Counsel for the company, Tim Fair stated that by law they are not obligated to engage in decisional bargaining.
Participating in this process would give the misconception that we are responsible for the cuts and not the company, which is possibly the reason for their decision to do so.
Decisional bargaining puts the onus of these cuts on us and we are approaching the decisional bargaining process cautiously. We attempted to have the company's representatives disclose what plans they have should we not offer any suggestions on where they can achieve these sought after savings, to which elusiveness was all we could obtain in their answers.
Before we attempt to assist management in making these cuts, we requested information pertaining to pressroom budgets for the last 3 years as well as overtime paid to bargaining unit employees during those same periods. We are also seeking information regarding savings earned by the company as a result of previous pressroom buyouts. We have also asked for information pertaining to cuts and dollar amounts sought in departments other than the pressroom as well as a total amount sought throughout the company.
With the requested information, we will be able to determine exactly what our options are and how to approach this latest attack on our pressrooms.
International President George Tedeschi as well as our attorney Adam Stern have been informed of this situation and they are evaluating our options and will, along with our Representative Mike Huggins, guide us through another attempt by management to save the company by cutting the heads off the people who actually produce the final byproduct of our company, the newspaper itself.
We would love to hear any suggestions on how the company can reach the savings they seek from our department. Keep in mind, they do visit this site regularly and I'm sure they'd love to see them also.
SHELL GAME
Hello colleagues,
WELL HERE WE GO (SAM THE SAVIOR OR THE DEVIL HIM SELF ) WE THE UNION WERE ASKED BY THE COMPANY IF WE HAD IDEAS ON HOW WE COULD IMPLEMENT 1.8 MILLION DOLLARS IN CUTS !!! YEH RIGHT ! WE WERE NOT OFFERED A BUY OUT,NOTHING !! WE WERE OFFERED NOTHING !!
WELL I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I DON’T
HAVE THE DESIRE TO CUT MY THROAT OR THE THROATS OF ANYBODY ELSE.THAT IS THE SAME APROACH THE COMPANY USED TO GET RID OF DRIVERS AND MAILROOM PEOPLE.APARENTLY CLOSING THE VALLEY AND GETTING A PERPORTED SAVINGS OF 55-60 MILLION ISN’T ENOUGH
FOR THIS GREEDY MAN.OLYMPIC IS IN THE PROCESS OF CUTTING THE SIZE OF THE NEWSPRINT AND ORANGE COUNTY WILL SOON FOLLOW, SO WHEN IS ENOUGH GOING TO BE ENOUGH !!! THE COMPANY SAYS THE LOS ANGELES TIMES IS NOT LOSING MONEY SO IS THIS JUST PURE GREED ! THE UNION ASKED FOR PROOF THE COMPANY IS NOT PICKING ON THE UNION AND WE WERE TOLD WE WERE NOT PRIVY TO THAT INFORMATION.I ASK WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO HIDE.ARE WE PAYING FOR THE FOLLY OF MANAGMENT ?ARE WE AGAIN PAYING FOR THE DECISIONS OF BOARD DIRECTORS ? AGAIN THE WORKER PAYS FOR THE DUMB DECISIONS OF THE LEADERSHIP THAT WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER.SAM WANTS TO MAKE CUTS.THEN I SAY START AT THE TOP BEFORE WE FALL OVER FROM BEING TOO TOP HEAVY, LEAVE THE WORKING MAN AND WOMAN ALONE.SAM YOU SAID YOURSELF YOU DON’T NEED OUR MONEY SO CALL OFF YOUR DOGS AND LETS HAVE A REASONABLE CONVERSATION (NO BACK STABBING) OFFER A BUY OUY FOR THE PRESSROOM AND COME CLEAN ON YOUR REAL MOTIVES !!!
WELL HERE WE GO (SAM THE SAVIOR OR THE DEVIL HIM SELF ) WE THE UNION WERE ASKED BY THE COMPANY IF WE HAD IDEAS ON HOW WE COULD IMPLEMENT 1.8 MILLION DOLLARS IN CUTS !!! YEH RIGHT ! WE WERE NOT OFFERED A BUY OUT,NOTHING !! WE WERE OFFERED NOTHING !!
WELL I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I DON’T
HAVE THE DESIRE TO CUT MY THROAT OR THE THROATS OF ANYBODY ELSE.THAT IS THE SAME APROACH THE COMPANY USED TO GET RID OF DRIVERS AND MAILROOM PEOPLE.APARENTLY CLOSING THE VALLEY AND GETTING A PERPORTED SAVINGS OF 55-60 MILLION ISN’T ENOUGH
FOR THIS GREEDY MAN.OLYMPIC IS IN THE PROCESS OF CUTTING THE SIZE OF THE NEWSPRINT AND ORANGE COUNTY WILL SOON FOLLOW, SO WHEN IS ENOUGH GOING TO BE ENOUGH !!! THE COMPANY SAYS THE LOS ANGELES TIMES IS NOT LOSING MONEY SO IS THIS JUST PURE GREED ! THE UNION ASKED FOR PROOF THE COMPANY IS NOT PICKING ON THE UNION AND WE WERE TOLD WE WERE NOT PRIVY TO THAT INFORMATION.I ASK WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO HIDE.ARE WE PAYING FOR THE FOLLY OF MANAGMENT ?ARE WE AGAIN PAYING FOR THE DECISIONS OF BOARD DIRECTORS ? AGAIN THE WORKER PAYS FOR THE DUMB DECISIONS OF THE LEADERSHIP THAT WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER.SAM WANTS TO MAKE CUTS.THEN I SAY START AT THE TOP BEFORE WE FALL OVER FROM BEING TOO TOP HEAVY, LEAVE THE WORKING MAN AND WOMAN ALONE.SAM YOU SAID YOURSELF YOU DON’T NEED OUR MONEY SO CALL OFF YOUR DOGS AND LETS HAVE A REASONABLE CONVERSATION (NO BACK STABBING) OFFER A BUY OUY FOR THE PRESSROOM AND COME CLEAN ON YOUR REAL MOTIVES !!!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Pressroom Buy-Outs?
Since the announcement of pending cuts to staffing here at the Los Angeles Times, (again) I have been asked about Pressroom Buy-Outs. I am not aware of buy-outs being offered to pressroom employees. I called our International Representative Mike Huggins this morning to inform him that there are pressroom employees that will again wish to participate in the buy-out process and his reply was, " if they (the company) don't offer buy-outs to pressroom employees, there is nothing we can do about it".During the last round of buy-outs, (2006) there were pressroom employees that were interested and willing to accept a buy-out, but were told that it was because of the Union that they could not offer them to our Dept. Believing that to be false, I asked GCC/IBT President George Tedeschi if there was anything that could be done to notify the company that pressroom employees were willing to depart.
President Tedeschi was informed by his sources in Chicago that the fact that we organized had nothing to do with their decision to not offer buy-outs in our pressrooms and that the company had no desire to reduce staffing at that time.
Considering the staffing levels we are currently operating at, I cannot foresee any reductions in staffing that would not have a further negative effect on the already excessive overtime necessary to produce the products we are currently printing at both facilities.
I'm sure this issue will be raised during our next negotiations so I will keep you all informed on this matter as it develops, but as of this moment, no buy-outs have been offered to the pressroom employees. Any buy-outs for pressroom employees are subject to collective bargainingWednesday, February 13, 2008
Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club: Another Round of Buyouts at the Tribune Company
Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club: Another Round of Buyouts at the Tribune Company
I thought we were told we would likely see more employees, not less. It didn't take very long for the cuts to resume and hopefully it will only be the dead weight on top.
We cannot afford to continue to lose editorial employees. If Management continues to take them off of our shelves, no one will have any reason to shop in our store. No customers, no store.
Ronnie
I thought we were told we would likely see more employees, not less. It didn't take very long for the cuts to resume and hopefully it will only be the dead weight on top.
We cannot afford to continue to lose editorial employees. If Management continues to take them off of our shelves, no one will have any reason to shop in our store. No customers, no store.
Ronnie
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club: Sam Zell Videos from LAT Olympic Facility
Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club: Sam Zell Videos from LAT Olympic#links#links#links#links
In case you missed Sam's visit, Victor Banuelos captured these videos for your viewing , not to mention listening pleasure.
Thanks Vic and Ed.
In case you missed Sam's visit, Victor Banuelos captured these videos for your viewing , not to mention listening pleasure.
Thanks Vic and Ed.
Zell, Rupert Talk About Outsourcing
Wall St. Journal Printing
By E&P Staff Published:
February 11, 2008 10:00 AM ET
CHICAGO, On the heels of Tribune Co. flagship Chicago Tribune's announcement that it was canceling contracts to print its Midwest edition out of town, comes a report that Chairman Sam Zell has talked with new Dow Jones & Co. proprietor Rupert Murdoch about outsourcing the printing of The Wall Street Journal to Tribune papers in Florida and Los Angeles.At a meeting last week with Los Angeles Times employees, Zell reportedly discussed his conversation with the News Corp. chairman about moving production of the southern Florida and southern California editions of the Journal from Dow Jones-owned plants to the Orlando Sentinel or South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Florida, and the Los Angeles Times in California.In November, before Zell completed the $8.2 billion deal to take Tribune private, the Journal reported he had talked with Murdoch about a deal to print jointly Tribune's Newsday on Long Island, N.Y., and News Corp.'s New York Post.
E&P Staff
Friday, February 08, 2008
Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club: Sam Zell's Act of Urgency
Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club: Sam Zell's Act of Urgency
I got a call from Keith Denson this afternoon saying that pool tables were on their way to our facilities. I hadn't heard anything about this and wasn't sure if it was true. Well obviously, it is.
Thank's Sam!
I got a call from Keith Denson this afternoon saying that pool tables were on their way to our facilities. I hadn't heard anything about this and wasn't sure if it was true. Well obviously, it is.
Thank's Sam!
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Rally At San Diego Union Tribune
Union Rally At The San Diego Union Tribune Tuesday February 26th @ 12:00 pm
Show your support for our brothers and sisters in San Diego by attending this Rally. The Pressroom employees are negotiating their contract renewal and the recently organized mailroom is currently negotiating their first contract.
Our International Organizers, Marty Keegan, Jorge Perez and several International Representatives are working diligently to bring awareness to the S.D.U.T. employees efforts to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement. Let's show our appreciation for all the hard work they've done for us here by attending the rally and support their efforts in San Diego.
The employees at the Union Tribune know and support our efforts to negotiate a contract and welcome the opportunity to meet all of us. Come make some new friends and share stories that only we can relate to.
Contact me at admin@saveourtrade.com so I can get a headcount and to arrange carpools if anyone wishes to share a ride.
Wear your colors (Black Teamster Shirts) and meet at 12:00 noon:
San Diego Union-Tribune350 Camino de la Reina
San Diego, CA 92108
Lets get out and do our part to help our fellow Pressmen and Women.
The "F' Bomb Video
2/7/08 Footnote:
During his visit to The Los Angeles Times to meet the employees and give his vision for the future, he took the time to explain the event's that lead to his final comment.
As Sam was answering the question asked of him, the indivdual turned her back to him and walked away, which he viewed as rude. Sam went on to say, " if any of you ask me a question and then your back before I finish answering, I'll tell you to go fuck yourself too."
He finished by saying, " She still has a job here."
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