The following is a news release from TNG-CWA:
Guild Joins with Publishers;
Files Amicus Brief in Direct Mail Case
Postal Regulatory Commission Deal With Valassis Will Slash Newspaper Revenue, Cost Jobs
The Newspaper Guild-CWA, representing 25,000 workers, has joined with publishers in the Newspaper Association of America to oppose the Postal Regulatory Commission’s postage-rebate deal with Valassis Direct Mail, Inc.
The Guild has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, in support of the NAA’s petition to vacate the Negotiated Service Agreement, which gives Valassis a 22 to 36 percent rebate on postage paid for durable good advertising.
The rebate will “cause ‘unreasonable harm’ to the advertising marketplace, and, in particular, to the newspaper industry, with a resultant loss of employment for those who work in newspapers,” the brief states.
“In what are already very difficult times for our industry, both workers and employers recognize how devastating this postal deal is to the future of good jobs and good journalism, the bedrock of our democracy,” Newspaper Guild President Bernie Lunzer said.
Newspaper publishers and executives are saying essentially the same thing, and some of them are quoted in the Guild brief. Jeff Hively, president of Newspaper Support Services, Inc., said:
“Any significant decline in durable and semi-durable goods advertising
revenues would severely disrupt operations at the newspapers. For
example, a loss of even $1 million would require, on average, a
newspaper to eliminate 16 positions in order to recoup the loss…
More significant losses in FSI [advertising] revenues also could
endanger the continued operation of some newspapers.”
The brief goes on to describe the advertising and job losses newspapers have already sustained, and the effect on journalism and the future of newspapers.
“The Court should not allow the Postal Regulatory Commission to further undermine the fragile health of newspapers by allowing Valassis to have a tremendous anti-competitive advantage in the advertising marketplace. Simply put, thousands of jobs hang in the balance,” the brief states.
NewsGuild, also known as The Newspaper Guild-CWA, represents 25,000 journalists and other workers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Find us at NewsGuild.org, Facebook.com/TheNewspaperGuildCWA and @news_guild.