Well here we go !

Today supervisors and other management were making up pasters today.Is this a sign from Zell ? Is this a test to bring in reel tenders ? Who knows.Ask your supervisor what this is about.See what they say.Are your friends in the office trying to take your job away ? Again I've seen a few press people starting work early.What is that about ? Haven't we lost enough already. Tell these people its wrong,Its against labor law ! Its time to step up and be counted .Times are tough we have to stick together.Cant you see that ?Senor management doesn't care about you.I do.We do.Let us together get thru this and save our jobs ! Tell management you are not happy about this new development,be heard .

Happy Independence Day

I hope you all have a safe and memorable 4th of July.

The fight for freedom never ends.........

Where to Begin????

This is question # 6 on our survey and it seems very appropriate to ask at this time.

Senior Management , (Execs. VP's etc.) staffing levels are:

% of Respondents -------- Number of Respondents

Bloated
80.28%
57
Sufficient for the size of the operation
8.45%
6
Low, we need more executives
2.82%
2

OTHER:

bloated and over paid and elitist !!
1.41%
1
Ineffective and not true employees as most have come from outside of company in last 3 years. Too new to have buy-in to past company culture.
1.41%
1
Publisher and next level of leadershipt haven proven to be impotent and incapable. Why haven't they all been replaced?
1.41%
1
There is some extra VP's that can be cut. Not the real personnel who is getting the paper out on deadline.
1.41%
1
too new to the newspaper industry to understand news and the relationships within the areas served by each paper.
1.41%
1
We could save a lot of money by downsizing idiots who can only think of shrinking the paper and reducing the newsroom.
1.41%
1
Number of respondents
71

Figures based on 71 respondents .
Number or respondents who skipped this question
52

Where to begin........
Final statistics will be disclosed at close of survey on July 15th

How Can Partners fire Partners?

In light of the news that another 250 Los Angeles Times employees, (Aka Sam Zell Partners) will be leaving, as announced by Publisher David Hiller and Editor Russ Stanton, I decided to post the responses we have generated thusfar from Survey question #3. .

Do you think it is right for Sam Zell to lay off partner/employees when he borrowed against their retirement by creating an ESOP to purchase Tribune?

% of Respondents Number of Respondents

Yes, he has to pay his bills. 7.58% 5

NO, He said "You own this place now" 86.36% 57

Other:

He's Sam Zell. he's going to do whatever he wants, as long as it makes him richer.
1.52% 1
How about upper management take a cut in pay, to save money.
1.52% 1
no how can he borrow my money without my permision ?
1.52% 1
Should have never been allowed to leverage so much debt to buy Tribune.
1.52% 1

Number of respondents
66

Number or respondents who skipped this question
48

Survey Update

The survey is going great! We have had over 100 responses in just 2 days, some of which are from our collegues in editorial. I have reviewed some of the responses and it is obvious that some of the supervisors are are evaluating themselves. I could have invited responses via e-mail, by "password only" to prevent this from happening but I wanted to allow anonymity and give everyone the opportunity to answer the questions relating to Sam and Management. I hope all of the supervisors and management who did answers questions relating to their own performance consider allowing us to evaluate ourselves next time and I guarantee they will see as many "H"s as they are giving themselves.

In spite of this obvious intrusion, the survey is providing great perspective from you, the employees in the form of your write in answers. I will post all of the responses at the close of the survey on July 15th. I will also post some of the responses that warrant instant publishing rather than waiting for the close of the survey.

Thanks to all of you who already took the time to respond, here are some of your responses to the final question "If I really owned this place"

Get more reporters into the Greater L.A. communities we're supposed to cover and make the paper relevant to our readers ... insist on TIMELY reporting so we're the ones who break the news, not chase it; this is especially important for our stories online ... give plant employees a lounder voice to educate management and an ombusdman to see their ideas to fruition

Do all I could to restore the journalistic excellence, increase the community pride and stewardship in the paper, and continue to innovate to meet the growing needs of the diverse Southern California community.

Limit the amount an executive recieves to one years salary when leaving the company. Bring back paperboys hawking newspapers during rush hour, and even add an afternoon edition, as a method of increasing circulation.

Sell some fucking ads instead of fidgeting with editorail content

Invest in quality products and people that provide content that our readers really want.

Treat everybody fair and with respect..

Sell it to David Geffen.

If you haven't taken the survey yet, what are you waiting for? Do it now by clicking here.

Take Back the Times: In Loving Memory of My Dad, Ken Reich

Take Back the Times: In Loving Memory of My Dad, Ken Reich

Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club: In Memory of Ken Reich

Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club: In Memory of Ken Reich#links

Rest in Peace Ken Reich

In Memory of a True Fighter!

Your inspiration lives on!

Image courtesy of InkStainedRetch of TellZell

Online Survey.

Sam Zell, Senior Management and Supervision are topics of an online survey I have created for the purpose of evaluating those who evaluate us.

I have wanted to create something like this survey for quite some time now and this website provided the opportunity to finally do so.

We have all sat down with a supervisor during an evaluation and felt that their evaluation of our performance was not quite as accurate as what we would consider to be a true assessment of our work. We are evaluated for our performance and it is proper that we do the same of our management and supervision. Do they manage and supervise in a manner that promotes productivity, cooperation and teamwork, or do they do just the opposite? You can let each of them know in this survey. We will evaluate each of their performance using the same "H" (Highly proficient) "P" (Proficient) and "N" (Needs improvement) grading system used to rate our performance in the same "General Competencies" areas of:

Communication Skills

Reliability

Flexibility

Initiative

Problem Solving Skills

Teamwork

You can take this survey only once, if you don't complete it, you can return where you left off.

Be sure to inform everyone and direct them to the survey, the more responses we receive the better. No one should miss this opportunity to respond to important questions I have heard many of you ask.

Results will be compiled and revealed when the survey closes on July 15, 2008 at 12:00 am

Click here to take the survey now. The survey was created with eSurveysPro.com, a free online survey software.

The survey is now open. I corrected a problem this morning and it is now available to take.

Sam Zell strikes again. This whole ESOP bullshit and implying that the employees are owners and partners is insulting. We would never support the decision to sell these historic properties or as Zell states, "maximize their value" Who will see the proceeds from these transactions? Not the ESOP "Partners", the "Lender" partners get their cut first and there wont be anything left when they're done.

Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club: Teamsters/GCC Run Advertisment on KFWB 980 AM Radio

In case you missed it, it will be airing all week. Ed put it into a slide show in order to upload the audio. Great job Ed.

Los Angeles Times Pressmens 20 Year Club: Teamsters/GCC Run Advertisment on KFWB Radio#links#links

Thanks for including me and Mr. Magoo!

You can now view the slideshow below and listen to the radio spot audio.


Slideshow by Sluggo!

Take Back the Times: Agonizing Wait For New Tribune Fuck-Ups At LAT

Take Back the Times: Agonizing Wait For New Tribune Fuck-Ups At LAT

KFWB 980 AM Radio Spots

Radio ads informing union members in Los Angeles and Orange County of our efforts to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement are scheduled to air Monday, June 23rd, on KFWB News 980 AM.

Fired Santa Barbara Newspress Reporter Tom Schultz can be heard delivering our message to all union members listening to KFWB 980 am all week long and online at KFWB.com

We wish Tom and all of the reporters who were unlawfully terminated for union activity at Santa Barbara NewsPress the very best in their battle against Owner Wendy McCaw. Obey the law, Wendy McCaw!

Support From Local 406 Newsday

THANKS TO ALL OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AT NEWSDAY. SPECIAL THANKS TO MIKE, LOUIE, ZACH, DARREN AND PRESIDENT GRABHORN. GREAT PICTURE DAVE!

Barack Obama addresses Teamsters Unity Conference

For the record, I did not attend this conference.