Los Angeles Times to Layoff 10 in Pressroom

Layoff Notice 8-11-11

CONTINUE TO START WORK BEFORE YOUR SHIFT, KEEP HANGING ROLLS WITHOUT A PARTNER, KEEP SKIPPING YOUR BREAKS, CONTINUE TO COME BACK EARLY FROM LUNCH.
Why do we keep doing these things that make it so much easier for the company to lay more of us off.
When will we "Stop helping the company eliminate our jobs"!

EVSP 2010

EVSP 2010

ESOP MY ASS! EMPLOYEE OWNERS WANT THEIR SHARE TOO!

Tribune Chapter 11 Plan Includes $15M In Executive Bonuses

Tribune Co. has unveiled plans for a third round of top executive bonuses, nearly $15 million, bringing to more than $72 million the amount of pay enhancements the media company handed out while operating under bankruptcy protection.

Publisher of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Baltimore Sun and operator of a chain of broadcast stations, Tribune wrapped the latest bonus programs into the Chapter 11 plan it will be sending out for creditor votes.

Creditors will be voting on the bonuses as they decide whether to support Tribune’s plan, which dishes out equity to cover part of its $12.7 billion debt load.

The new bonuses, which cover 42 top executives, include nine of Tribune’s 10 top-ranking corporate leaders, according to papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.

They are in addition to $57.4 million worth of bonuses already approved by a bankruptcy judge over the protests of unions whose members lost jobs due to the company’s financial struggles. The earlier bonuses were paid out between May 2009 and February 2010.

Hundreds of managers were included in the court-approved bonus programs, along with top executives. Tribune has refused to identify top leaders who participated or say how much they received, other than to say Chairman Sam Zell didn’t participate.

The Chicago company also hasn’t revealed the identities of insiders who collected $268 million in pay, bonuses and severance pay the year before the company filed bankruptcy.

Tribune filed for Chapter 11 protection in December 2008 after a leveraged buyout piled $8 billion worth of debt on the media enterprise.

It hopes to be out of bankruptcy by September as the property largely of banks that financed the deal. If Tribune’s Chapter 11 plan is approved, the company will have shaken off billions in debt and silenced questions about the wisdom of the LBO transaction.

Yet to be revealed is the percentage of equity in the reorganized company that will be set aside for management under Tribune’s Chapter 11 plan. Like most companies departing bankruptcy, Tribune has said it plans to reward management with stakes in the reorganized media company.

How much equity executives will get, Tribune hasn’t said. The company’s financial advisers estimate the post-Chapter 11 company will have an equity value of $4.1 billion.

A spokesman and an attorney for Tribune didn’t respond Tuesday to requests for information about the equity incentive plan. The company has promised to supplement information on its Chapter 11 plan before a July 30 voting deadline on the plan.

(This report is from Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review, which covers news about distressed companies and those under bankruptcy protection.)

Newsletter Launch with April Issue

With the launch of this Newsletter, members will have another form of receiving information. Members currently visit this and Ed Padgett's site for information as well as view posted information in the bulletin boards and receive recorded telemessaging information from Executive Vice President Keith Denson.

The newsletter will be produced once a month. All other Local Union matters will be provided to the members as events occur through the regular methods described above. Questions and suggestions for the newsletter can be sent to admin@saveourtrade.com

Newsletter April

Severance Negotiations Update

After four meetings with the company, there are no agreements for severance. I really can't go into detail here on the blog because management reads this blog more than the employees.

I will say that we are following the members instructions on how to proceed.

Meetings are scheduled to continue on February 25th and 26th.

We have close to a dozen pending grievances with approximately 6 of them ready to go to arbitration. Our Attorney, Adam Stern and the Company Attorney have begun the selection process from a list of arbitrators provided by the Federal Mediation Service after the company rejected a list of 7 arbitrators they requested we send them.
This could have been completed at our last meeting in a matter of minutes, and have selected an arbitrator, but the company is chosing a process that is only meant to cause delay.

The company feels they will prevail in these grievances and so do we; and that is why we have made the company fully aware of the fact that the membership, (including many of the departing 39) are willing to go to arbitration if their brothers and sisters being laid off aren't recognized equally to others being laid off. Solidarity is the key, and I'm am glad to see that managements actions are uniting our shops at an increasing rate.

In Solidarity,
Ronnie Pineda
President,
GCC/IBT Local140N

(Artwork by TheeArtist, Ronnie Pineda, Titled:"The Grind"  Click to enlarge

Tribune Co. seeks approval for modified bonus plan

Chicago Tribune parent reports better results
By Michael Oneal

Tribune staff reporter
5:39 PM CST, January 20, 2010

Tribune Co. on Wednesday said it had generated a much better-than-expected $500 million in cash flow during 2009 and sought to make it easier for a bankruptcy judge to bless $45.6 million in bonuses tied to the results for 720 managers at the company.

In July, Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, petitioned the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware for permission to pay from $21.5 to around $67 million in bonuses through three separate performance-based plans.

The biggest was a continuation of Tribune Co.'s normal incentive bonus plan for both top and middle managers. The other two would reward a group of around 20 top managers for either navigating the bankruptcy process or "transforming" their business units.

A group of company unions objected to the request at a September court hearing, calling the bonuses top-heavy and too easy to earn. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey has yet to rule as he prepares a formal opinion on the matter. Tribune Co. had originally requested that Carey rule on all three plans together. But on Wednesday, the company said it would be willing to have the court "bifurcate" its ruling so that the larger group of more than 700 managers could be rewarded in February for their 2009 performance.

Any payout would be based on how much cash flow the company generated relative to plan in 2009. The maximum payout would require a result 200 percent more than originally predicted.

In a separate note to employees Wednesday, Tribune Co. CEO Randy Michaels said that the company generated almost $500 million in cash flow during the year "thanks to a stronger than expected performance by both the Broadcasting and Publishing Groups in the fourth quarter." The results owe much to cost cutting efforts but Michaels noted that lower newsprint costs and a slightly better economy helped.

A spokesman said that level of cash flow exceeded the 200 percent threshold, meaning bonuses for the group of 720 would come in at a maximum of $45.6 million if approved. If the judge also approved the other two plans, they would pay out around $21 million to a much smaller group.
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
======================================================================================
How about asking the Judge if some of this money can be used to provide severance for the soon to be laid-off 39 pressroom employees? They've made so many sacrifices for this newspaper, working nights, weekends and holidays away from their families for decades: while the bonus recipients celebrated with their children and relatives. 

The Company's unwillingness to pay severance is not an economic matter:  as a matter of fact, it has nothing to do with money: it is PERVERTED POWER and OBVIOUS PUNISHMENT for Organizing our shops.

Ask management why they feel these individuals don't deserve to be treated as fairly as the other production departments. The Union submitted a separation package proposal that many, if not all of you would agree to be fair and more than deserving. The Company apparently has the money to fund our proposal without having to give anything in return, hell, they've already taken everything  and never given anything in return, why should we continue to suffer and management rewarded? SPEAK OUT AGAINST THIS TO MANAGEMENT, DEMAND EQUALITY AND FAIRNESS!

STOP THE PUNISHMENT, PAY THE SEVERANCE!

Apology to Members

I deeply apologize to the members that were offended or upset by my comments that were directed towards(mis)-management. I became very, very angry after months of being lied to while attempting to obtain answers on the members behalf regarding the closing of O.C.

I realize O.C. was rumored to close for some time now, and it eventually would be, but when we ask questions that you want answered, don't you expect to receive an honest answer? So do I! I wasn't upset so much that they were lying to Keith's and my faces, but that ALL of you were being lied to once again.

I DETEST liars and that is the reason I had to say what I said. I have absolutely no regrets for what I said because that is how I honestly feel. I spoke the truth many of you would echo if you could do so without repercussion. It is those of you that I represented in my comments.

I want everyone to know that those words were from Ronnie the Pressman, not Ronnie the President. I have always conducted myself in a professional manner when addressing the company on behalf of the membership from the very beginning, management has shown no interest in reciprocating by lying blatantly to its employees.

This behavior should not be easily dismissed and a demand for honesty should be imposed upon management by each and every employee. Just because you know they lie doesn't mean its O.K. DEMAND TRUTH and HONESTY from the Company and require them to also treat their employees in a professional and ethical manner. In other words, STOP LYING!

I assure the members that I will show the restraint necessary to represent the membership in a professional manner and give my word that I will refrain from unleashing my inner thoughts upon management again in the future.................if there is one!

Los Angeles Times Orange County Facility Scheduled to Close on March 15, 2010

The Union has attempted numerous times to uncover the truth as to what plans the L.A. Times has for the O.C. Facility without any results. Russ Newton, John Walker and Leticia Bugarin have all denied any plans to close Orange County and have went as far as to imply that Ed Padgett and I were perpetuating these rumors with our Blog posts. It is apparent that we were barking up the right tree and this was not a rumor.

It is also no coincidence that this decision took place a day after recall rights for the remaining employees that were laid-off in April'09 expired. We have asked point blank if this was being discussed by management to which the answer was always NO. LIES, LIES and more LIES!

Business is Business but, I warned everyone that this company and its managers cannot be trusted and here is further proof!

Click on the links below to view the documents that were received by the Union.
(Note: Notice 2 contains multiple pages including a list of the effected employees)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24914894/O-C-Closure-Notice-1
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24916680/O-C-Closure-Notice-2
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24915287/O-C-Closure-Notice-3

Useful Links for the 63

COBRA Continuation Coverage Assistance Under The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Of 2009

FAQs For Employees About COBRA Continuation Health Coverage

General Information about the Unemployment Insurance Program is available at:

http://www.edd.ca.gov/

To file a UI claim over the Internet click on:

http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/Filing_a_Claim.htm

To file a claim by telephone number:

http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/Telephone_Numbers.htm

Additional information and assistance may be obtained at:

http://www.dol.gov/

Agency Fee Payer Information

The following documents were mailed to everyones home to provide information regarding non-member dues and the process to become a "financial core member" The letter explains the member advantages that are forfeited when full membership is not desired by the employee.

The dollar amount of monthly dues for an "Agency Fee Payer" member is $48.04. The formula is based on $60.00 per month that a full member pays which includes the International per capita at the chargeable amount rate of 80.06%. This amount is deductable through "dues check-off" by completing and submitting a dues check off authorization form.

Dues may also be mailed to Secretary Treasurer, Linard Williams using the following information:

Secretary Treasurer
Linard Williams
24009 Pasala Ct
Valencia, Ca. 91355

Dues deducted from members currently facing layoff on April 6th will be refunded after that time.
LATimesduesletterFeb 8

Publish at Scribd or explore others: gcc/ibt l.a. times

Beck Laws2

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Religion & Spiritual Other healing attraction

1967 Union Rally at The Times

WALKING IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS.

"The Los Angeles Times Has Labor Problems In Their Pressrooms"

read the signs worn by former pressmen.

Photo courtesy of the Late William (Bill) Torrance
(Center of Photo, being interviewed)

Archives given to our Local contained this photo along with a treasure trove of documents from the 1960's and the history between the company and the pressroom employees

Union Activity from that era.

This photo is a testament to the company's decades old and antiquated position of union busting, and the employees quest for fairness and equality.

I hope to have all these documents reviewed by the Teamsters Historical Department for proper preservation.

Monday's Rally

Monday's Rally was very inspiring and it was a great example of solidarity as we marched side by side with brothers and sisters from GCC/IBT Local 404, Teamsters Local 396, Iron Workers Local 416 and members of the SEIU. Unions have united across labor affiliations understanding that supporting each others issues only stregthens the labor movement as a whole.

I received several messages from T.V. News agencies stating that there was some confusion regarding the time of our rally. Our literature clearly stated that we were to begin at 11:00am, but they weren't sure if it was at 11:00 am or at 1:00pm. We have no idea how the media was mislead, but we have some suspicions. We intend to investigate how this confusion by the media occured and whether any foul play was involved.

There were several web-based news agencies that did report on the rally and those stories and additional photos can be found on Ed Padgett's blog and these links:

http://www.edpadgett.com/ -Ed Padgett
The pressmen (and women) protest - Gary Scott

Protest 4 LA Times Press People - Witness LA
Pressmen Protest At The LA Times - Pandora

Los Angeles Times Pressmen Protest Cuts - Blog Downtown

Teamster Joint Counsel Speaker.

Every effort to have local politicians join us on the street was overshadowed by the current stimulus package and their efforts to get those dollars into the Los Angeles economy and they were committed to that process just across the street from our rally. It is my understanding that we do have their support for what is happening not only to our shops, but the newspaper as a whole. We will continue to call on them for support and hope to utilize their offices to improve the working conditions for not only our bargaining unit, but all L.A. Times Employees.

Our Attorney, Ira Gottlieb addresses the crowd highlighting the unfair treatment of our members. Ira also listed the board charges and grievances that we have filed with management and the N.L.R.B. To Ira's right in the photo is GCC/IBT Local 404m President Doug Brown. President Brown and the members of Local 404 have responded to every request for help, and this time was no different.

Teamster Executive Board Member and Western Region Organizer, Manny Valenzuela addressed the crowd emphasising the importance of standing together against workplace injustice and encouraged everyone to remain strong and united.

Our rally was an important beginning in raising awareness for equality and fairness. It's intent was to deliver the message that, first, we are not alone, second, we will stand up for workplace justice and third and most important........

WE WILL BE BACK!

Photos courtesy of Victor Banuelos

Union Rally Monday February 23, 2009

A press release was sent notifying the media about our Union Rally to be held on Monday February 23, 2009 to expose the anti-union treatment our bargaining unit has been subjected to at the hands of management and supervision since ratification of the collective bargaining agreement on December 8, 2008.

Rally information:
Date: Monday February 23, 2009
Time: 11:00 am
Location: L.A. Times Building Downtown, 1st and Spring

All members not working are expected to attend!

Must know information for Bargaining unit employees:
If scheduled to work, DO NOT miss work to participate.
No signs, we're not picketing.
No work slowdowns in support of Rally.
No work stoppage in support of Rally.

Ronnie Pineda
President, GCC/IBT Local 140-N

Rumor Control and Negotiation Update

It was no shock to me that we lost some of our supervisors this past week. It is always terrible for anyone to lose their job, its worse just before the holidays. We have witnessed the exodus of our friends and co-workers for years now and it is always heart wrenching for most of us. As salary employees, there is no obligation for management to honor supervisors seniority in their respective position. Why the supervisors that were relieved of their post were chosen, can only be answered by those who made the decision as to who they considered expendable. Some will be missed by some, and some will be missed by all. Either way, they will be missed. I will personally miss Misty Griffin for the fact that she was always honest, fair and treated everyone with respect.

RUMOR CONTROL
O.C. RUMOR: There have been many questions regarding the possibility of the pending Joint Operating Agreement between The Orange County Register and The Times that was reported in The Orange County Business Journal (Click for story). One main concern I have been hearing is that Pressmen from The Register will come and run their own product on our presses. We have not been given any indication from management that they are considering anything like that. I don't see how that would be a profitable venture for the company to "rent" our presses and that is essentially what something like that would be. Language we have already agreed to prevents management from hiring part-time employees to sub plant the full time workforce. All the details regarding part-time employees will be presented at the upcoming ratification meetings.

L.A. RUMOR: There are going to be more buy-outs and we are going to lose 4 crews.
Management did not state that they intend to reduce staffing at this time and it was not mentioned at the table.

NEGOTIATIONS
Today we gave management our wage and benefit proposals and spent time discussing the new benefit package offered by management and our desire to explore coverage through either the Teamsters, the GCC or the company sponsored health care program. We also proposed a "medical opt-out program" in which the company is being asked to give a fraction of the projected per employee company medical cost back to the employee(s) wishing to opt-out of the company medical benefit. This type of reimbursement is becoming very common for companies looking to reduce their benefit overhead by allowing employees to opt-out of their company coverage. This program has saved large, self insured companies such as ours millions of dollars and it also gives the employee and their family more flexibility in medical coverage options.

The wages, benefit and pension proposals were submitted as a package proposal and it included our proposed term of the contract, a signing bonus, sick days and several other topics. The proposals are, we believe to be fair, but we are sure that the company's counter proposal will reflect managements desire to control costs. We on the committee are not ignorant to the state of our industry and the effect the economy is having on our company and are bargaining with those factors in mind. We are extremely aware of how the economy has effected each of our households as well and bargain with that in mind even more so.

We are attempting to have management redirect their retirement contributions to each employee for the purpose of reinvesting it into the Interlocal Pension Fund. For more information on the Interlocal Pension Fund (click here) There is no other plan like this and we will be able to contribute an additional pecentage above the negotiated amount contributed by the company.

With all of that said, I must remind all of you that no matter what we on the negotiating committee and our representatives agree to at the table, all bargaining unit employees will have the final word by voting on the tentative agreements reached in negotiations. If there are areas that are not acceptable to a majority of those who vote, then the committee will go back to the table and attempt to renegotiate the unsatisfactory terms. It is extremely important that everyone vote because ratification is based on a majority of those who cast a vote. Don't let only those who vote decide for you whether or not we ratify these tentative agreements.

Negotiations resume on November 6th at which time we will receive the company's counter proposal.

In Solidarity!

Ex-Times reporters sue Zell

Kevin Roderick

I'm told that lawyers representing current and former Los Angeles Times newsroom staffers are filing a class-action federal lawsuit against Sam Zell and Tribune this morning in Los Angeles, alleging breaches of fiduciary duty, conflicts of interest and other violations of ERISA, the law that safeguards the proper handling of retirement benefits like pensions and trusts. The plaintiffs include several familiar bylines and at least one current Times star. A team has been looking into Zell's leveraged takeover of Tribune almost since he used employee money to get the company.

Details to come.

(Click here for full story)

"No Go" tiations!

First, I apologize for the delay in getting this information posted, so let's get started. The latest negotiations which took place on Wednesday July 30th and Thursday July 31st were expected to be very productive on our part, considering where we left off previously. We had essentially felt that a positive dialog had begun and presumed that we would both negotiate from a "mutual interest" point of view.

We began at the table Wednesday morning by receiving the company's reponse to our information request pertaining to the recent "Hybrid" merit raises given to non-union production employees. The legal jargon we've been given in response to previous requests was again being recycled in this response as if it is memorized and put on a rubber stamp for convienience. That being said, our Legal Representatives will review their written response and instruct our Rep's Sonny and Mike as to how we should proceed on this subject. Any wage increase we propose will include that it be retroactive to raises currently being given.

We have expressed an opposition to merit based wage increases from the very beginning because of the evaluation process that is used to determine the eligibilty of an employee to recieive an increase, and the amount of an individual's potential increase based on his or her evaluation. We believe everyone will agree that this process has proven to cater to favortism and also believe you would agree that a "general" wage increase across the board is the only fair method of implementing a wage increase.

As we had previously discussed at the table, and agreed to, Sonny and I, along with the company's representives, Tim Fair and Russ met in "side bar" off the record, thus I cannot devulge the actual conversations that took place during this procedure. Without giving any details of the conversation, Sonny and I listened to items the company considered "deal breakers" and they simply would not consider agreeing to. We listened closely to their concerns and feel that we were willing give some ground to move the negotiations forward and show good faith. This procedure took the better part of Wednesday, and Sonny and I both left the side bar feeling that it was extremely productive and looked forward to getting back to the table, and back on record.

Thursday's negotiations began early with much anticipation. Seniority was an issue we discussed in previous negotiations and felt we were getting close to an agreement at that time. In the final hour, the company decided they would propose to classify each position and in the event of staffing reductions, the lowest seniority pressperson in a specific classification would be laid off first. We said we would agree to that concept if they would agree to "bumping rights" which would allow a senior pressperson who's job classification experiences a reduction in staffing to bump someone with less seniority outside of that classification, thus resulting in the last man in, first man out. Their pat answer of "we're not interested" and their unwillingness to agree to reverse seniority without classification caused this subject to be set aside.

Sonny felt that this topic (seniority) was a good place to begin on Thursday morning and would also be used to gauge the company's movement in the negotiations in general, simply because this issue does not have an economic impact on the company one way or another.
We have stood fast on the principle of reverse seniority in the event of staffing reductions. The company representatives have sought to layoff and recall according to skills and ability.
The problem with their approach, like merit raises, allows for favortism. Another concern of our's with this concept is, who will be responsible for determining one's skills and abilities?
Management? Supervision? Sam Zell? Again favortism surfaces.

We prepared and presented a "package proposal" giving the company the "management rights" they sought with the inclusion of language that would prevent their mgt. rights from superceeding the agreements contained in the contract. In exchange we were asking for seniority language which included reverse seniority in the event of staffing reductions, union security, which requires union membership to work in our shops, and dues check off, requiring the company to deduct union dues from members payroll and forward those dues to the local.
Remember, all union dues are tax deductable and we don't pay dues until we ratify a contract.

Our package proposal was rejected, and the company presented a counter proposal in which they sought to protect up to 15 individuals they deemed "high performers" they would like to retain in the event of layoffs. This number amounted to 6% of the 248 workforce employed in the pressrooms. Our first reaction was, again, favortism will flourish under this concept. Sonny challenged their number of 15 and used a hypothetical layoff of 20 individuals and illustrated that if they could protect 15 of the 20, they would actually receive 75% protection for their favorites from being laid off. There was no way we would even consider this and counter proposed, for the purpose of moving forward, a 1 in 20 ratio that would allow them to protect 1 in 20 if a layoff were to occur. So in order for them to save 1 of their high perfomers, a minimum of 20 individuals would have to be targeted for layoff. If 39 positions are being eliminated, they would still only be able to protect 1 high performer.

Another section of their proposal contained new language which would essentially strip the union of it's "jurisdiction" and allow the company to bring in any one they choose to run our presses without them having to join the Teamsters. The extreme danger of this language would also allow the company to send our work outside the buliding to other workers without recourse. This language was introduced, once again, in the final hour mucking up the progress we had felt we were making. Sonny became very irate with the company representatives for attempting to introduce this language knowing that this would be highly scrutinized and rejected by our side of the table. The company came with another counter proposal eliminating the protections for high performers, and gave us reverse seniority, but was not interested in removing the language that trampled on the unions jurisdiction. This package proposal by the company was made with the stipulation that if rejected, it would be retracted. Sonny accused them of intentionally throwing a wrench in the process by doing so and broke off negotiations for the day.

Sonny, Mike, President Tedeschi and our Legal Team in Washington will review our last proposal and the company's as well, and determine how to proceed. I trust they will hammer out a plan that will put our negotiations on the track it needs to be on to achieve our goal of negotiating a "fair" collective bargaining agreement. Stand fast and be patient, we'll can get there together, in solidarity!

Boned Again By the Times!

The L.A. Times have again stooped to another low in their vain attempt to save a buck! I was informed last night that The L.A. Times will not be renewing their contract with Ryder Logistics. That means the drivers will again be victims of the Times belt tightening.

Brandt Bros. and Fox will never compare to these men and women that have proven for decades that they are the best at what they do, and that is deliver the L.A. Times. Too bad they are again being under appreciated for their irreplaceable contribution to this company.