UNCLE RUSS WANTS YOU, to impeach me!

Sources informed me today that SVP of Operations and Home Delivery, Russ Newton is now attempting to "ENLIST" pressroom employees to remove me from my office as Local 140-N President. Is this a rumor? No, my source isn't management so it's definitely true.Why would Russ seek my removal from office other than to get rid of our Union as well.

Now why would he want to get rid of our Union?
Can you imagine how great he would look to whomever takes control of the L.A. Times when he tells them "I got rid of the Teamsters, now "I" can do whatever you want!"

He and his anti-union Pressroom cohorts, continue to fail in their efforts to expel our Union from the Times because I believe the remaining fulltime pressmen and presswomen know that these individuals are only on managements side simply to enhance their own position through perks from management for their willing participation against all of you Union members. We all know its true, these people have no shame or self respect and they have already proven to me and many others that they will bend over and lie for the company regardless of how it effects all of you in the shop. Pariahs are what I would view them as, hard working men and women such as yourselves call them more colorful names that we have all heard before.

Now ask yourself, what would Russ really do if I, and the Union were gone? 

Would you receive the same wages?
 Doubt it! You wouldn't even have the opportunity to discuss your worth!

Would you receive the same benefits?
Probably not due to a new Corporate America trend that is resulting from the implementation of Obamacare where employers are demoting employees from fulltime to part-time with less than 30 hours a week to avoid paying health benefits. Don't worry, I'm not giving them any  ideas they are already planning to do if Russ succeeds.

Believe me, the Union is the only protection we have from this company, its managers and the supervisors that do their bidding regardless of the fact that they too were once one of us! I know they fear for their jobs too but I cannot believe no one, even them, has the courage to say how they truly feel about how they are forced to treat all of you because of retribution from Russ!

I am not the one that needs to go, IT IS YOU RUSS, I HOPE CHICAGO HAS BEEN KEEPING SCORE BECAUSE YOU HAVE COST THEM MORE MONEY THAN I HAVE FIGHTING FOR THE EMPLOYEES INSTEAD OF AGAINST THEM. THE MONEY YOU HAVE WASTED FIGHTING US COULD HAVE BEEN USED TO INCREASE WAGES AND BENEFITS, IMPROVE SAFETY, AND IMPROVE WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE SHOP. INSTEAD YOU CHOSE TO MAKE THE LAWYERS RICHER  BY THE TENS OF THOUSANDS OR MORE JUST TO AVOID LOOKING WEAK AND NOT IN CHARGE, YOUR ACTIONS ARE THOSE OF A TYRANT AND YOU NEED TO GO, OR BE STOPPED! 

NEITHER I, NOR THIS UNION ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY OF THE ACTIONS RESULTING FROM YOUR DECISIONS, THE UNION IS NOT TO BLAME FOR ALL OF THE THINGS YOU HAVE PERSONALLY CHOSE TO DO TO PRESSROOM EMPLOYEES OUT OF SHEER SPITE AND NO OTHER PLAUSIBLE REASON!  

DO FOR THE EMPLOYEES INSTEAD OF AGAINST THEM AND NEITHER I, NOR THIS UNION OF EMPLOYEES, WOULD EVEN BE NEEDED. 

GREED IS WHY WE ARE WHERE WE ARE TODAY! I REMEMBER YOU ALWAYS CLAIMING YOU DON'T RECEIVE BONUSES, MORE LIES! LIES TO THE TUNE OF OVER A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS OR $229,000.00 TO BE EXACT! THAT WAS IN ONE YEAR ALONE WHILE PRESSROOM EMPLOYEES WERE BEING LAID OFF WITHOUT SEVERANCE, HOW MUCH MORE HAVE YOU RECEIVED SINCE? CARE TO REVEAL THOSE FIGURES? YOU GET MORE FOR DOING LESS AND WE ARE SUPPOSED TO ACCEPT LESS BECAUSE YOU THINK WE DESERVE LESS! WHAT MAKES YOU MORE VALUABLE THAN THE INDIVIDUALS THAT ACTUALLY PRINT THE NEWSPAPER? LAYOFF HUNDREDS OF SKILLED LABORERS AND LINE YOUR OWN POCKET WITH THE SAVINGS! WITHOUT US, EVERYONE'S WORK AT THE TIMES IS FOR NAUGHT, INCLUDING YOURS, IF NOT ESPECIALLY YOURS! 

We, the Union, and I personally, have sought to have an amicable relationship with you for the benefit of the members but your continued actions that intentionally hurt our members and their families prevent that from happening. You claim you are just doing your job, but I truly believe you get pleasure from causing pain and sorrow; to me, that is just plain sick!

 I'll leave when the members decide its time for me to leave, NOT YOU!

Footnote:  For the record, this site is intended for Bargaining Unit members of the Los Angeles Times Pressroom. I choose for the site to remain public,while it is understood and I am aware that L.A. Times management in Los Angeles and Tribune legal counsel in Chicago visit MY site regularly for the sole purpose of gathering information to use against us. I stipulate, that this is "MY" site because this site is paid for solely by me, and is not funded by the union or Local 140-N.

The New York Times' Decision To Sell The Boston Globe: A Pressman's Perspective

News of the New York Times’ decision to sell the Boston Globe has stirred considerable angst among Globe employees.  While this is completely understandable, if there is one thing we have learned in this business it is that the only constant is change.  After all, when the New York Times made the decision to close the Globe’s satellite production facility in 2008, resulting in the loss of over 60 Pressmen we soldiered on.  And then, when the New York Times extracted millions of dollars in savings under the threat of closing the Globe, we survived.  Others in our great union have not been so lucky.

Declining circulation and advertising have taken its toll on our industry.  A proud industry that has investigated, informed, entertained and enlightened the public for years.  The newspaper was a legacy business that has provided a fine standard of living for generations of our families.  For those us of us that produce newspapers it has been a challenging era, and it certainly doesn’t appear to be getting any easier.  As I originally posted in July of 2011, the constriction in our craft has been nothing short of catastrophic.  The trade journal Newspaper and Technology maintains a stunning info graphic tracking these changes across the country. 

While it is understandable that newsrooms are the focus of attention when the public discusses newspaper cuts, keep in mind that there are thousands of pressmen and other craft unionists who have lost their trade.  A trade most of them studied and honed for 20, 30, or even 40 years.  Working weekends, holidays, and blizzards to manufacture a product that does not exist at 10 PM and get it on thousands of door steps by 6 AM.   We are the unseen faces of the newspaper, and for the most part, we like it that way.

In my sixteen years’ experience as the President of this proud local, I have had the privilege of representing some of the finest people I have ever known. I have found it incredibly painful to sit at the bargaining table and negotiate the elimination of, not simply a job, but a way of life for these fine craftsmen in their 30s, 40s and 50’s.  For most of them, this is the only work they have done for their entire working lives and 99% of them will never do it again.  Men and women from the Boston Herald, Boston Globe, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Lynn Item, Salem News, Brockton Enterprise, Patriot Ledger, Woonsocket Call, Fall River Herald News, and more.

Despite the trouble and uncertainty, under the leadership of Publisher Chris Mayer, the Globe has been actively seeking and acquiring additional products for us to produce on our presses (Mayer assured employees at a meeting this morning that these efforts would continue).  The same can be said for the Providence Journal where our members also print numerous publications.  These products have saved jobs and provided millions of dollars to each paper’s bottom line.   

It is clear that the only constant for us is change.  Changes that have devastated so many newspaper employees across the country and change that, for the most part, is out of our control.  For those of us that remain, as Pressmen, the most important thing we can do for ourselves is do what we do best; produce multiple, high quality, timely products.     

*I began my newspaper career as a Plateboy, Paperhandler, and Pressman at the Boston Globe in 1978.