In addition to the Guild positions that were eliminated yesterday, the company has notified the Guild that the equivalent of three full-time positions (about 5,850 hours) will be cut out of the part-time copy editor pool as part of the creation of a "universal copy desk," leaving approximately 1.8 equivalent full-time positions (about 3,510 hours) left in the pool. This reduced pool will be used primarily to cover vacations and other absences.
Part-time copy editors can bump into full-time positions if they have more seniority than the least senior full-time copy editor as determined by total hours worked.
All part-time copy editors have been mailed an election form, which must be returned by 5 p.m. on Monday according to the letter, to determine if they would be willing to work full time. At that point, the most senior part-timers who are willing to work full time will bump into full-time positions, apparently.
As described by the company, it appears that work for the remaining part-time copy editors will be sporadic.
In addition, all slot and copy editors who have four-day workweeks have been notified that they will revert to a five-day workweek.
At the same time as the layoffs are occurring, the company has posted three news jobs in advertising and news. An Online Content Producer job has been created in news, and the company has notified the Guild of its intent to create two New Business Development Salesperson positions in MaineToday.
Several issues have already cropped up with the layoffs. The first is that proper notice was not given to the Guild. A violation in and of itself, the bigger issue is the reason for the notice.
The notice period gives an opportunity for the company and Guild to meet and fully discuss any contractual issues and try to resolve them before action is taken. Only cursory information was provided to the Guild before members were brought into the HR conference room one after another and laid off, with the company not even identifying to the Guild who was coming in next. The end result is that issues that could impact someone's job have not been discussed and action has already been taken.
Additionally, the company has an obligation to negotiate over changes in working conditions. The closing of the cafeteria is certainly that, and a potential Unfair Labor Practice exists there. With all the emotions surrounding layoffs and the apparent attempt to cut costs, why would the company willfully ignore the contract and Labor law and potentially create costly litigation?
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