More layoff news

On Friday afternoon, the company laid off a second classified advisor position, again without giving proper notice. This brings the count of Guild members laid off so far to six, with the potential of three full-time copy editor positions still to come.

Four of the five members with bumping rights have chosen not to bump and to take the layoff so far. This includes Guild Portland unit chair Glen Reed, whose major accounts salesperson position was eliminated.

Part-time copy editors have until Monday afternoon to get notice to Human Resources of if they are willing to work full-time. At that point based on seniority (defined as hours worked in the copy editor classification) part-timers who are willing to work full-time can bump into full-time positions if they have more seniority.

After the layoff Friday afternoon, the Guild and company did meet to discuss issues related to the layoffs. These discussions primarily included issues such as notice in moving from day to night shifts, the potential of job sharing a full-time copy editor position under Article XI, the new Online Content Producer position and the new MaineToday sales position that have an immediate impact on individuals in relation to the layoffs.

The Guild and company have scheduled meetings for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to discuss other issues related to layoffs and other outstanding issues.