September 21, 2006

I Lost My Job Through The New York Times

Company Subcontracts Classified Advertising

Eliminates Three Other Guild Positions.

 

     For the fourth time since March 2005, the Times has informed the Guild of its plans to reduce staff through subcontracting and staff reductions. 

 

     On Monday, September 18, the Times announced to employees in Classified Advertising that the company is subcontracting the work of the entire department. The Guild was told the announcement would be made at 10:00 AM.  When Guild Unit Chair, Art Mulford, arrived on the floor at 9:55 AM to be with the employees when they were told they would be losing their jobs, he learned the announcement had been pushed up to about 9:30 AM.  When management representatives saw Mulford, they tried to convince him not to visit the department.  Mr. Mulford informed management that he represented the people in the Classified Department and was going to talk to the affected employees and inform them of their contractual rights and of meetings at the Guild, scheduled for them later that afternoon.  The Guild asked management if anyone from the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) office was present in the building in case workers needed assistance after being told they were losing their job.  Management conceded that was a good idea but said they didn’t think of asking someone from EAP to be present at the announcement.  In fact, classified management was so oblivious to the impact that the layoff would have on employees it held the meeting announcing the subcontracting at the desk of an employee who had just returned from bereavement leave that morning.

 

      In February, the company had informed the Guild that it intended to outsource overflow calls to classified in an effort to capture potential revenue the company felt was being lost during peak call hours, nights, and weekends.  At that time, the Guild was told there would be no impact on our members.  Almost immediately, advisors noticed an increase in customer service calls and non-commission ads, such as obituaries, and a reduction in the number of calls for ads that result in an opportunity to earn commissions.

 

       On several occasions, the Guild had raised these and other classified problems, asking whether or not select calls were being directed to the subcontractor, who operates out of Buffalo. 

 

As reported in our previous shop paper, management said calls were not being directed to Buffalo or 43rd street. Instead, management claimed calls were routed based on software that determined if an advisor would be available within the next 10 seconds.  If the wait time was more than 10 seconds, the call would be routed to Buffalo. 

 

     In August, Art Mulford and several advisors met with Stephanie Serino of Labor Relations and Michael Black, Director of Classified Advertising, to voice complaints, ask questions, and request information.  The Times has responded to some of the questions and information requests that pertained to the operation at 43rd street but, six weeks later, requested information pertaining to the operation in Buffalo has not yet been produced.  It now appears that management was stalling while it finalized its plans to subcontract our work. 

 

     When the Guild asked who would be performing the work of “copy passers,” we were told the subcontractor would also be assuming that work.  For the first time, to the knowledge of the Guild, the Times has given to an outside vendor all control over the content of classified ads that will appear in the paper.

 

     In addition to the subcontracting of classified advertising the Times is also reducing the staff in the following areas: Marketing Creative Services Department, (1) Assistant Art Director; Marketing Production Department, (1) Manager; News Services-Photo Archives Department; (1) Customer Service Representative.  In all of these cases, their work will be performed by other Guild represented employees.

 

Times Agrees to Offer Buyouts in Affected Areas

 

     The Guild and Times management met on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the subcontracting and staff reductions.  The Times agreed to offer buyout packages to all employees in the targeted areas.  The Times has once again agreed to consider volunteers from non-targeted areas for a buyout package, in an effort to make positions available for targeted employees.  Employees from non-targeted areas who wish to volunteer for a package must notify the Guild in writing no later than Friday, October 6, 2006.  Your letter should be, signed and dated, and include your job title, department, and group.  Letters should be to the attention of Unit Chair Art Mulford, or to our Local Representative Anthony Napoli at the Newspaper Guild, 1501 Broadway, Suite 708, New York, NY, 10036 or dropped off in the Times Guild unit office at 43rd Street room 970.

 

Job Placement

 

     Any employee who has been targeted for layoff or subcontracting and would like to be placed in an available position should contact Art Mulford at extension 1030 to set up an appointment for an interview with a member of the union’s Job Placement Committee as soon as possible. 

 

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9/21/06