Sacramento Bee union staffers vote on pay cuts
AP
By STEVE LAWRENCE
March 6, 2009
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Union members at The Sacramento Bee are deciding whether to accept pay cuts of up to 6 percent.
Approval of the cuts by the Newspaper Guild would save 19 union-covered jobs in the newsroom and advertising departments, at least for now.
The paper plans to cut 34 of the union's 268 positions regardless of the vote results. Rejection of pay cuts could put those 19 additional jobs in jeopardy, too.
Results are expected to be announced after 5 p.m. Friday, Pacific time.
If approved, the proposal would allow the newspaper's management to require employees to take a week of unpaid leave.
The Bee is owned by the McClatchy Co., based in Sacramento.
Showing posts with label Unions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unions. Show all posts
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Is the San Diego Union-Tribune clueless?
Today the SDUT editorial page derided the intelligence of left-leaning bloggers who want to unite to bargain for health insurance.
The SDUT thinks that this idea makes no sense. Bloggers are silly to think they can bargain, says the SDUT, because the bloggers don't have employers.
Here's how the SDUT puts it: "Now along comes a story about some of these lefty bloggers that is so flabbergasting it demands this observation: So we're clueless?"
(This question is apparently directed to left-wing bloggers who think that the mainstream media don't "understand how the world really works nowadays.")
Economics lesson #1 for Bob Kittle and friends:
You don't need an employer to bargain for a better price for health insurance. All you need is a large number of people who are combining their purchasing power. As the quantity being purchased increases, the price goes down. This method works whether you're buying health insurance, office supplies, fleets of cars, or potatoes.
The answer to Bob Kittle's question ("So we're clueless?") would seem to be YES. Not always, of course. But in this case, I'm afraid so.
But, to be fair, I did like the editorial about the team of students from Mexico who won the National Geographic World Championship. And I do like print journalism. In fact, I think San Diego would be much better off if we had two print newspapers instead of one. Perhaps the North County Times and the East County Californian will expand into downtown and make San Diego a great American city with two competing print newspapers.
The SDUT thinks that this idea makes no sense. Bloggers are silly to think they can bargain, says the SDUT, because the bloggers don't have employers.
Here's how the SDUT puts it: "Now along comes a story about some of these lefty bloggers that is so flabbergasting it demands this observation: So we're clueless?"
(This question is apparently directed to left-wing bloggers who think that the mainstream media don't "understand how the world really works nowadays.")
Economics lesson #1 for Bob Kittle and friends:
You don't need an employer to bargain for a better price for health insurance. All you need is a large number of people who are combining their purchasing power. As the quantity being purchased increases, the price goes down. This method works whether you're buying health insurance, office supplies, fleets of cars, or potatoes.
The answer to Bob Kittle's question ("So we're clueless?") would seem to be YES. Not always, of course. But in this case, I'm afraid so.
But, to be fair, I did like the editorial about the team of students from Mexico who won the National Geographic World Championship. And I do like print journalism. In fact, I think San Diego would be much better off if we had two print newspapers instead of one. Perhaps the North County Times and the East County Californian will expand into downtown and make San Diego a great American city with two competing print newspapers.
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