Warren Buffett's newspaper group said Monday it would buy the Tulsa (Okla.) World daily newspaper. BH Media Group, a division of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is to purchase the newspaper for an undisclosed amount from the Lorton family of Tulsa, which has owned the World for four generations. The sale is to close in March. The World circulates 95,000 copies on weekdays and 133,000 on Sundays. It is the second-largest newspaper in Oklahoma, after the Daily Oklahoman of Oklahoma City. The World's web site, Tulsaworld.com, is the best-read website in the Tulsa area.
In Guild talks Last week, the Seattle Times outlined its plan for cost-savings in the Home Delivery department, including wage cuts, changes to incentives and goals and new district assignment arrangements. "Clearly, any move to substantially reduce costs in Home Delivery will have an enormous impact on Guild staff, as well as on the quality of service provided to the paper’s vital home-delivery subscribers," the Guild writes on its local webpage. "Of the 18 District Advisers currently working in Home Delivery, 12 have more than 30 years of service with the company. Of 24 Assistant District Advisers, half have more than 20 years of service, and none has less than 15. All four of the Zone Clerks in the department have more than 20 years of service."
Too many journalists are working unpaid hours of overtime to keep up with demands in a "we-can-do-more-with-less" environment. The United Media Guild is addressing the concerns of its Gatehouse members, who sometimes put in 50 to 60 hours a week to meet all their responsibilities. " “With no overtime to do it, we have people who are working and not claiming overtime,” Pekin Daily Times reporter Sharon Harris said. “If you walk out before a story is ready for the next day, that can get you fired. Our people are caught in a Catch-22.”
Bay-Area unions and community groups who represent or work with immigrants gathered on Thursday to strategize about how to ensure any potential immigration reform plan benefits all workers.
Last week, in the second session of contract talks with Time Inc. management to renew the New York Guild's collective bargaining agreement, the union made an information request for details of the reported plans to sell People magazine and other Time Inc. titles, or otherwise transform the company.
In negotiations between the New York Guild and Scholastic, which began last July, management has been demanding massive changes throughout the contract, all aimed at reducing compensation and eroding long-standing rights and protections. In response, the local's Executive Committee has approved a budget of up to $100,000 for what could potentially become a wide-ranging mobilization campaign aimed at winning a fair contract. Photo: Scholastic Unit Chair Kathy Wilmore and bargaining team member Eric Russ, riding double-decker bus in last year's New York City Labor Day parade.
Bloomberg BNA management this week revised its health care proposal — but still would shift at least $4.5 million dollars in costs to employees over three years.
Janelle Hartman —
February 21, 2013— NewsGuild-CWA
With its second bankruptcy in three years, the Journal Register Co. is abusing the system to abandon its obligations to workers and investors, Newspaper Guild President Bernie Lunzer charged Thursday. “They are essentially selling the company to itself, with only minor modifications in ownership,” Lunzer said. “Shamelessly, this reorganization is hurting many people, including our Guild members.”
