Newsletter of the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild
Membership meeting
WHEN: Noon, Tuesday, Sept. 30.
WHERE: Turner Hall
AGENDA: Vote on Executive Board, convention delegates, dues. Lunch will be served.
Journal Sentinel to be spun off in deal
Slower-growth print publications led by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel would be combined in a Milwaukee-based newspaper group under a transaction that combines the faster-growing broadcast operations under Ohio-based E.W. Scripps Co. brand.
The move, announced July 30, was described by Journal Communications management as a way to position the print business, with 3,600 employees and an estimated $500 million in sales, for future growth independent of broadcast.
But a respected media critic called it another chapter in an ongoing “print media is dying” tale. Print is being “kicked to the curb,” David Carr of the New York Times wrote.
Under the planned deal, which must be approved by stockholders of both companies, Scripps would acquire Journal Broadcast’s television and radio holdings, while splitting off its 13 newspapers along with the Journal Sentinel in the new Journal Media Group.
Journal Communications Chairman and CEO Steve Smith described the deal as a “win-win,” and touted these benefits for the print side of the business:
• It would be headquartered in Milwaukee and have no debt and $10 million of cash.
• Journal pensions would become the responsibility of Scripps — a move that helps strengthen the balance sheet for Journal Media Group, which “will be positioned to navigate the ongoing transformation of the publishing industry.”
The debt-free status stands in contrast to the Tribune Company’s split of broadcast and print, which saddled the publishing arm with $350 million in debt when its spin-off was completed Aug. 4. The next day, Gannett announced that it, too, was splitting its broadcast and newspaper holdings into two companies.
Journal and Scripps said the acquisition would not affect union contracts, which would be honored. But it’s still unclear what the deal will mean for the Journal Sentinel newsroom.
Journal and Scripps signaled that attention to cutting costs wouldn’t go away as a result of the merger.
“It’s the way we do business and the way every company in our industry will do business for the rest of our careers,” Journal Sentinel Publisher Betsy Brenner said during the employee meeting.
After the spinoff, Journal Media Group will look to stabilize revenue and hopes to add other print properties to its portfolio, company executives said.
During an investor conference call, Smith and Scripps executives said they projected $35 million in “synergy savings” that could be achieved as a result of eliminating duplication and other cost-cutting measures from the merger.
Asked about cost cuts at the employee meeting, Smith said those savings would come more on the corporate level than at the newspaper itself. Smith announced that he would become non-executive chairman and that Tim Stautberg of Cincinnati- based Scripps would be the Journal Media Group CEO.
In his critique of the Tribune-Scripps-Gannett wave of print-splitting, Carr wrote: “Even if the writing has been on the wall for some time, let’s play a bit of sad trombone for the loss of reporting horsepower that will accompany the spinoffs.”
Bargaining delayed after announcement
Journal Sentinel Inc. canceled two days of negotiations scheduled for August after the company announced a deal to spin off the Journal Sentinel and merge it with 13 newspapers owned by E.W. Scripps Co.
The management team and representatives from the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild met for two days of sessions in July in which the two sides exchanged proposals.
The Guild was represented by president Tom Silverstein, first vice president and bargaining chair Jennifer Amur, second vice president Zeina Makky, committee member Karen Samelson, and Guild international representative Jay Schmitz, who is serving as the Guild’s lead negotiator.
Management was represented by the company’s outside attorney, Jonathan Levine, who is serving as its lead negotiator, and Marilyn Krause.
Unlike the start to negotiations three years ago, when Levine took a hardline approach, the tone of the opening session was more civil and restrained as both sides went over their proposals.
The next round of negotiations was held Sept. 16.
New leaders to be selected at annual meeting
On Sept. 30, Milwaukee Newspaper Guild members will choose the next Executive Board at our annual meeting at noon at Turner Hall. Members also will elect convention delegates and vote on keeping dues at their current low level.
Our local’s second in command, First Vice President Jennifer Amur, will not be running for re-election. That means we need someone to fill her position, in charge of grievances and contract enforcement.
Members also will elect a president (our chief executive officer and public spokesperson), second vice president (in charge of membership and mobilizing, as well as communications and social events), secretary (to manage our office, keep our records and take minutes), treasurer (our chief financial officer) and three at-large board members (all expected to be active in other Guild roles). All will serve one-year terms, starting Oct. 1.
After taking office, the new board must fill appointed posts. That includes up to three steward leaders (each overseeing grievances, membership and stewards for part of our unit); chairs of the Communications, Social, Health & Safety, Human Rights and Good & Welfare committees; newsletter editor; webmaster; technology coordinator (in charge of our office equipment); and Grievance & Representation Committee members (to enforce wage provisions, deal with benefit matters, and handle posting and jurisdiction issues). Next, steward leaders and vice presidents will select stewards.
At the meeting, members will decide how many delegates to send to the Guild’s international sector conference, then elect delegates and alternates to that conference and to the international convention of our parent union, the Communications Workers of America.
We’ll also take our annual vote on whether to keep our dues rate at its current 1% level, a discount from the normal rate set by the international.
The meeting is open only to dues-paying members. Lunch will be served.
No wage increase announced for this year
Breaking with its practice in recent years, Journal Sentinel Inc. did not create a merit pool for wage increases in July, effectively freezing wages in the newsroom.
Management cited the company’s poor financial performance in the second quarter of 2014 as the cause of the freeze. There is no word on whether the pool will be created later in the year.
The Milwaukee Newspaper Guild contract guarantees an across-the-board wage for bargaining-unit members only if management creates a pool for non-represented employees below the senior executive level. Management created such a pool in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
According to the contract, 40% of this year’s pool would have been distributed to all bargaining- unit employees and 60% would have been distributed in a discretionary pool, commonly known as a merit increase. The contract does not specify how a pool might be distributed in 2015.
The Guild bargaining committee has proposed across-the-board increases for the life of the next contract in its initial proposal at the negotiating table.
The company has also instituted an informal hiring freeze in the newsroom; there are seven bargaining-unit openings. In conversations with Guild leaders, newsroom managers have said those openings are unlikely to be filled until after the Journal Media Group deal is closed.
Newsroom departures lead to staffing shuffle
There’s been some musical chairs in recent months in the sports department.
Deputy Sports Editor Bill Windler took a buyout in June after 31 years at the Journal Sentinel, and Jeff Maillet and Louisa Boardman were both named deputy sports editors to replace him. Maillet remains in the bargaining unit.
Sports producer Rick Klauer was named Packer Plus editor, Maillet’s previous position, in July. Klauer will still retain some of his online production duties.
In June, Assistant Managing Editor/Sports and Digital Development Mike Davis announced that online producer Matt Montgomery would move to the sports department. The official move has yet to happen, and Montgomery continues to work both in news and sports.
Additionally, Assistant Metro Editor/Police and Courts Mike Juley has joined the multiplatform desk, and O’Brien intern Erin Caughey, who had worked on multimedia projects during the summer, has returned as a fall online production intern.
Company considers switching parking garages
There have been a handful of car break-ins recenly in the Bradley Center parking garage, including cars belonging to Journal Sentinel employees.
Journal Sentinel Inc. is negotiating with the people who manage the parking garage at the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee, in the hopes that we’ll move out of the Bradley Center ramp. No contract has been signed yet, but it appears they’re closing in on an agreement. We’ve heard from management that the Hyatt garage is more secure, with guards, security cameras, etc.
In the meantime, please be extra careful in the Bradley Center garage. The MATC students are back, so there’s more activity there now than there was in the summer.
We’re seeking answers, input on spinoff
From the president
Like you, I have many questions about the company’s impending merger with Scripps and the subsequent creation of a newspaper-based spinoff known as Journal Media Group.
The Guild’s primary concern is that outgoing CEO Steve Smith’s promise that all union contracts will be honored when the transition is complete is kept and that the contract proposals we made prior to the merger announcement are taken seriously.
As you may have read in this newsletter or heard somewhere else, the company called off our August
negotiating sessions so it could regroup and figure out how to proceed. Our contract expires on Jan. 1.
We learned in a negotiating session with management on Sept. 16 that we were still bargaining with Journal Sentinel Inc., at least until the merger takes place sometime in the spring. We do not know how much influence the new CEO will have on determing management’s stance, but we did learn that they would very much like to have a deal in place come the merger.
The one certainty is that the Guild will survive this merger — as we did the last one — and we’ll be here to protect our hard-working members and demand that the quality and staffing of our newspaper and online operation not sink to the depths large chain newspapers have in recent years.
To that end, the Guild believes the transition discussions in progress must include a committee of our bargaining unit members. If the new company is serious about maintaining the quality of the Journal Sentinel and best using the resources we have, it should lean on those who understand our daily operation the best.
Any discussions about the best way to cover our community and beyond need to include those who actually cover our community and beyond. It would be foolish for the company to ignore such a valuable resource, especially in light of its decision to bring in a CEO from outside Journal Communications.
As always, the Guild will make every attempt to impress upon management the importance of increasing staff levels and improving pay and working conditions. Everyone is aware of how short staffed we are and how little is left to squeeze out of this incredibly productive newsroom.
We must also be mindful of how critical it is that the other newspapers in our group remain fully staffed and functional. The last thing we should do is turn a blind eye to any downsizing plans the company has for our sister papers, because what is bad for them will ultimately be bad for us, too.
I will soon make a request that newsroom employees be included in the transition planning and will keep you posted on the company’s response. Until then, keep doing what you’re doing. We are on the side of good journalism and that counts for something.