The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has laid off a part-time Racine County Bureau employee, in an aftershock from the newspaper’s downsizing.
No newsroom employees were included in the group of 22 workers laid off in late August. That was thought to be the end of a wave of downsizing that saw 24 newsroom employees take voluntary buyouts, after the shutdown of MKE claimed another five newsroom jobs in July.
The Racine County Bureau’s office in Sturtevant actually had been empty since May, after the last reporter, former Guild President Jennie Tunkieicz, left for a Kenosha County government job. The Sunday Racine County section kept going for a while with mostly freelance material until it, too, was eliminated in late summer.
But one part-time editorial assistant continued to work from home, producing calendar material that was being posted online after the section was dropped.
Managers offered her a spot in the downtown newsroom, but she declined and was laid off. In accordance with our contract, she received 60 days’ pay, plus two weeks of severance pay for each year worked.