![]() We've filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board because, as journalists, we stand for openness and transparency. We know it’s tempting to think that, because contract negotiations can be complicated, it’s better to stay out of it and let the company’s lawyer do her work.īut in your absence, your representatives have resorted to intimidation tactics to try to keep us from observing our contract talks. For example, our bargaining committee was forced to spend several sessions discussing limitations around desk decor, specifically what procedures we should follow if we wanted to bring in birthday balloons for a colleague. They don’t even know which issues are worth fighting for. Those representatives don't know the newsroom. Most of the team selected to represent you - a lawyer in San Francisco, representatives from HR - aren't journalists. ![]() No one representing management is actually in charge. Hundreds of Guild members have observed the negotiations, and the problem is clear. The company’s representatives may be reluctant to discuss what’s happening at the bargaining table, but we’re not. This layoff proposal comes after months of little progress in contract talks. Your handling of this proposed layoff sends a clear message to the newsroom: You don’t care about the contract, and you don’t care about us. Nothing could be more important for our day-to-day well-being and our professional futures at The Times. The livelihoods of dozens of our colleagues are now on the line. Instead, the company surprised us with this proposed layoff. ![]() In the depths of the pandemic financial crisis in 2020, Guild leadership proposed an innovative work-sharing plan to Times management that averted 84 newsroom layoffs. In fact, the Guild has a track record of finding solutions to newsroom budget problems. We would have been willing to discuss alternatives to layoffs had your representatives at the bargaining table broached the issue at any point in the last nine months. Now, the company has blindsided us with proposed layoffs - which we will begin bargaining over today - and Kevin Merida and newsroom leadership initially only planned to speak with us on Monday, five long days after announcing their intention to upend many of our lives. No managing editor, deputy managing editor or section editor has ever participated. Executive editor Kevin Merida has attended twice. Since the Los Angeles Times Guild started negotiating our new contract in September, our bargaining committee has met with management representatives more than two dozen times. ![]()
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