Sunday, June 10, 2007
BREAKING NEWS: Management threats lead to federal charge
Because of the threats and intimidation during the last two weeks and a locked-door meeting, the CNI organizing committee filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company with the National Labor Relations Board on June 8.
The NLRB regional staff will now investigate before deciding whether to issue a complaint, which would lead to a hearing on whether the company violated federal labor law.
More to come when we learn more.
The NLRB regional staff will now investigate before deciding whether to issue a complaint, which would lead to a hearing on whether the company violated federal labor law.
More to come when we learn more.
We are not alone
Within the next week some very interesting things should be happening which will show management that we are not just 32 people in a newsroom trying to decide whether or not to unionize.
Some of you may feel alone, but know this is furthest from the truth.
We have the backing of dozens of people who know where we are because they’ve been there. Our fellow journalists from Local 51, the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild, know how much we love what we do - the freedom to write, polish, create and photograph that next great idea. They know if we didn’t have families, we would do it for free, but they also know that wouldn’t be a great idea… because what we do and how we do it is of great value to people.
We also have the backing of the entire News Guild Union and the Communication Workers of America… and that my friends, is a great place to be.
Sometimes us creative types think we operate better in isolation. We aren’t known to do battle with our employer, except of course when it comes to our craft. Many of us have probably never asked for a pay raise, thought of asking for time-and-a-half after working an eight-hour day, or thought there was a need for a pay classification. And I’m sure the notion of turning in three stories before we went on vacation or even better yet, (I’ve personally done this) writing on our vacations, didn’t cause us much concern.
But now the dynamic is different… it’s different because I now feel the sting of being told I don’t contribute to generating revenue, that those red marks on a piece of paper some how dictate that I should continue the status quo while being spoon fed fear.
Being a writer has often been called an affliction, a disease, and an incurable one at that, but does it mean that we need to be taken advantage of?
The Journal Sentinel has backed off covering the suburbs because we get paid half the salaries of our counterparts; they don’t pay us if we work over eight hours a day; we don’t get paid a differential for working weekends, holidays or evenings; we don’t have a policy for grievances; and we don’t have a pay structure in place. They also do not post open positions that JS has for reporters and management has mentioned we won’t even be considered for them because we are a weekly newspaper.
Why is that acceptable to us? Because we love what we do and we fear not being able to do it.
I remember the words that my advisor said to me when I went back to school after a seven-year stint of trying to convince myself that I wasn’t a writer, Ginny McBride told me, “You’ll have to start out at a weekly and you won’t make any money.”
I accepted that notion once, but now… I think better of myself.
Some of you may feel alone, but know this is furthest from the truth.
We have the backing of dozens of people who know where we are because they’ve been there. Our fellow journalists from Local 51, the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild, know how much we love what we do - the freedom to write, polish, create and photograph that next great idea. They know if we didn’t have families, we would do it for free, but they also know that wouldn’t be a great idea… because what we do and how we do it is of great value to people.
We also have the backing of the entire News Guild Union and the Communication Workers of America… and that my friends, is a great place to be.
Sometimes us creative types think we operate better in isolation. We aren’t known to do battle with our employer, except of course when it comes to our craft. Many of us have probably never asked for a pay raise, thought of asking for time-and-a-half after working an eight-hour day, or thought there was a need for a pay classification. And I’m sure the notion of turning in three stories before we went on vacation or even better yet, (I’ve personally done this) writing on our vacations, didn’t cause us much concern.
But now the dynamic is different… it’s different because I now feel the sting of being told I don’t contribute to generating revenue, that those red marks on a piece of paper some how dictate that I should continue the status quo while being spoon fed fear.
Being a writer has often been called an affliction, a disease, and an incurable one at that, but does it mean that we need to be taken advantage of?
The Journal Sentinel has backed off covering the suburbs because we get paid half the salaries of our counterparts; they don’t pay us if we work over eight hours a day; we don’t get paid a differential for working weekends, holidays or evenings; we don’t have a policy for grievances; and we don’t have a pay structure in place. They also do not post open positions that JS has for reporters and management has mentioned we won’t even be considered for them because we are a weekly newspaper.
Why is that acceptable to us? Because we love what we do and we fear not being able to do it.
I remember the words that my advisor said to me when I went back to school after a seven-year stint of trying to convince myself that I wasn’t a writer, Ginny McBride told me, “You’ll have to start out at a weekly and you won’t make any money.”
I accepted that notion once, but now… I think better of myself.
INFORMATIONAL MEETING
Another meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. this Tuesday at the local union office 4063, 6511 W. Bluemound Road. We'll be meeting with union reps and Journal union members.
BREAKING NEWS: Investigation finds CNI is profitable
Community newspapers is a profitable entity and not the money pit management has portrayed, according to an intense investigation by union organizers.
According to transcripts from analyst press conferences regarding the quarterly report, CNI newspapers, a division of Journal Communications, are profitable.
Further more, any indication that the weekly newspaper group is the cause of red numbers is the result of management deliberate decisions and not a down turn in the number of subscribers, the amount earned from advertising or a market adjustment caused by an unfavorable status on Wall Street.
Steve Smith, CEO and Board Chairman, told a group of analysts during a 2006 second quarterly report presentation that community newspapers and shoppers continue to "focus on margin improvement."
Margin is net income divided by net sales income and is used as a internal indicator of how an business division like community newspapers is performing.
"Our community newspapers and shopper group continues to focus on margin improvement. Margins in the second quarter were 16.1 percent versus 9 percent in the second quarter of 2005 -- clearly helped by the one-time insurance recovery of $1.1 million. Excluding this benefit, however, margins were nearly 12% -- an improvement of about 300 basis points over 2005," Smith said according to a transcript.
Smith continued to say it was the hand of God that caused the papers and shoppers to appear in the red.
"At our community newspapers and shoppers, revenues of $24.7 million was down 6 percent compared to last year. The revenue reduction from the impact of Hurricane Katrina and the Louisiana print plant shutdown accounted for virtually all of the decrease," he said.
During the presentation of the 2006 third quarter numbers, Smith reiterated community newspapers strength.
"We are very pleased with the continued improvement in our community newspapers and shopper business, where the operating earnings margin was 8.4%. This reflects a number of economies we put in place in the past year, including the outsourcing of back office functions for community newspapers by Journal Sentinel," he said.
During the third quarter, CNI announced the revamp of its Milwaukee area community newspapers. CNI also discontinued ten shopper publications, replacing them with Marketplace, a shared mail product for the Milwaukee market.
By year end, eleven weekly community newspapers were planned to match the coverage provided by 18 neighborhood web sites. According to Smith, the combination of print and web sites will enable CNI to provide unrivaled neighborhood coverage in the greater Milwaukee area around-the-clock online and once a week in print.
"At our community newspapers and shoppers, revenue of $22.5 million was down 8 percent compared to last year," Paul Bonaiuto, company Executive Vice President and CFO, alluding to a small adjustment. "About half of the revenue decline was due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina and the Louisiana print plant shutdown."
Bonaiuto, however. made no indication of the division being unprofitable.
The division "recorded operating earnings of $1.9 million, up almost sevenfold from operating earnings of $249,000 in last year’s third quarter. This increase was due to $1.6 million in hurricane-related costs incurred in the 2005 third quarter. Operating margin was 8.4 percent," he said.
During the presentation of the last 2006 quarter, Smith talked about efficiency, shared costs and best practices as being the result of a continued move to a more synergy within the company's publishing and advertising efforts.
"Journal Community Publishing Group made a significant efficiency move in late 2006 by closing its Heartland, Wisconsin print plant and consolidating all of Wisconsin community publishing printing at our Waupaca print and press location with expected annualized savings of $750,000," he said.
He later said: "At our community newspapers and shoppers, revenues of $23.1 million was essentially flat compared to last year. Excluding the extra week, revenue decreased 6 percent."
Again, Smith the head of the company never making mention of any concern on his part in terms of community newspapers and shoppers and their impact on the bottom line.
During the review of the first quarter numbers with stock watchers, Smith begins to turn a critical eye on the changes that impacted his company's bottom line. Those changes, which included the reorganization of many facets of the division, were a concerted effort to be more profitable and not to save a sinking ship.
Circulation revenue at the community newspapers and shoppers of $477,000 decreased 35.9 percent, largely reflecting the change in the distribution model of the community newspapers in the Milwaukee area. This change, however, provides advertisers with a more effective way to zone their advertising and to target the neighborhood customers they most want to reach," he said.
"Despite a disappointing first quarter at our community newspapers and shoppers, we still expect to improve margins at that division," Smith later added.
According to transcripts from analyst press conferences regarding the quarterly report, CNI newspapers, a division of Journal Communications, are profitable.
Further more, any indication that the weekly newspaper group is the cause of red numbers is the result of management deliberate decisions and not a down turn in the number of subscribers, the amount earned from advertising or a market adjustment caused by an unfavorable status on Wall Street.
Steve Smith, CEO and Board Chairman, told a group of analysts during a 2006 second quarterly report presentation that community newspapers and shoppers continue to "focus on margin improvement."
Margin is net income divided by net sales income and is used as a internal indicator of how an business division like community newspapers is performing.
"Our community newspapers and shopper group continues to focus on margin improvement. Margins in the second quarter were 16.1 percent versus 9 percent in the second quarter of 2005 -- clearly helped by the one-time insurance recovery of $1.1 million. Excluding this benefit, however, margins were nearly 12% -- an improvement of about 300 basis points over 2005," Smith said according to a transcript.
Smith continued to say it was the hand of God that caused the papers and shoppers to appear in the red.
"At our community newspapers and shoppers, revenues of $24.7 million was down 6 percent compared to last year. The revenue reduction from the impact of Hurricane Katrina and the Louisiana print plant shutdown accounted for virtually all of the decrease," he said.
During the presentation of the 2006 third quarter numbers, Smith reiterated community newspapers strength.
"We are very pleased with the continued improvement in our community newspapers and shopper business, where the operating earnings margin was 8.4%. This reflects a number of economies we put in place in the past year, including the outsourcing of back office functions for community newspapers by Journal Sentinel," he said.
During the third quarter, CNI announced the revamp of its Milwaukee area community newspapers. CNI also discontinued ten shopper publications, replacing them with Marketplace, a shared mail product for the Milwaukee market.
By year end, eleven weekly community newspapers were planned to match the coverage provided by 18 neighborhood web sites. According to Smith, the combination of print and web sites will enable CNI to provide unrivaled neighborhood coverage in the greater Milwaukee area around-the-clock online and once a week in print.
"At our community newspapers and shoppers, revenue of $22.5 million was down 8 percent compared to last year," Paul Bonaiuto, company Executive Vice President and CFO, alluding to a small adjustment. "About half of the revenue decline was due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina and the Louisiana print plant shutdown."
Bonaiuto, however. made no indication of the division being unprofitable.
The division "recorded operating earnings of $1.9 million, up almost sevenfold from operating earnings of $249,000 in last year’s third quarter. This increase was due to $1.6 million in hurricane-related costs incurred in the 2005 third quarter. Operating margin was 8.4 percent," he said.
During the presentation of the last 2006 quarter, Smith talked about efficiency, shared costs and best practices as being the result of a continued move to a more synergy within the company's publishing and advertising efforts.
"Journal Community Publishing Group made a significant efficiency move in late 2006 by closing its Heartland, Wisconsin print plant and consolidating all of Wisconsin community publishing printing at our Waupaca print and press location with expected annualized savings of $750,000," he said.
He later said: "At our community newspapers and shoppers, revenues of $23.1 million was essentially flat compared to last year. Excluding the extra week, revenue decreased 6 percent."
Again, Smith the head of the company never making mention of any concern on his part in terms of community newspapers and shoppers and their impact on the bottom line.
During the review of the first quarter numbers with stock watchers, Smith begins to turn a critical eye on the changes that impacted his company's bottom line. Those changes, which included the reorganization of many facets of the division, were a concerted effort to be more profitable and not to save a sinking ship.
Circulation revenue at the community newspapers and shoppers of $477,000 decreased 35.9 percent, largely reflecting the change in the distribution model of the community newspapers in the Milwaukee area. This change, however, provides advertisers with a more effective way to zone their advertising and to target the neighborhood customers they most want to reach," he said.
"Despite a disappointing first quarter at our community newspapers and shoppers, we still expect to improve margins at that division," Smith later added.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
INFORMATIONAL MEETING
Another meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. this Tuesday at the local union office 4063, 6511 W. Bluemound Road. We'll be meeting with union reps and Journal union members.
The truth
CNI Staffers,
Fear can be a very powerful deterrent to not do something, but fear will never give you an accurate picture to make a decision – one that you have a LEGAL right to make.
Some of our colleagues have taken it upon themselves to tell you that you shouldn’t join the union. Their arguments are all based on fear, not fact. It’s also illegal for a supervisor to EVER ask you if you are for or against the union. Katie Klein and Sue Nord have been having those conversations. Sorry guys… nothing personal, but the law will be followed.
I know many of you have already been asked. These conversations are being documented and will be used in a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board. And to those of you who are doing it, it needs to stop. If you have, please e-mail me at denieslockwood@sbcglobal.net
At the meeting Friday morning, I heard… don’t make me lose my job, don’t make them cut my salary and don’t make them cut my benefits. I heard… don’t rock the boat. I heard… you are in the minority and we know better. I also heard a TON of inaccuracies.
Please, please, please don’t make your decision based on the information you heard and saw at these two meetings.
The truth is, it is illegal to threaten or coerce employees with losing their jobs, wages and benefits. If you don’t believe me, PLEASE visit this website. http://www.nlrb.gov/workplace_rights/nlra_violations.aspx
Also… we wondered the same thing about CNI losing money and one of the guild members asked a financial analyst, who owns stock in the journal said this…
“As far as I've seen, Journal does not break out the financial performance of the Community newspapers. With inter-company charges, it is pretty easy to make a subsidiary look unprofitable. The charges might be pretty heavy for Community newspapers within the company.
A better way to look at it is "how much is Community newspapers contributing to the bottom line of the company". They may as a unit be absorbing more than their fair share of corporate overhead and therefore still very important to the on-going profit of the
company.”
With the heavy advertising content, it seems that they should be profitable. It makes one wonder if the accounting is being done fairly within the company.”
Also… this business about JS losing money…
• Journal Communications owns75 community newspapers and shoppers in eight states and the revenue/expenses for these publications are lumped together in the annual report under a general line item of “community newspapers and shoppers.”
• In 2006, the community newspapers and shoppers had operating earnings of $7.1 million. That was up from $2.2 million in 2005.
• Operating earnings of the daily newspaper were $30.7 million in 2006, down from $41.7 million in 2005.
• Advertising revenue for all the websites -- JSOnline, MKEOnline, MilwaukeeMarketplace, Milwaukeemoms and the 25 MyCommunityNOW sites, increased 34.3% in 2006 over 2005.
• In the entire company there are 11 union bargaining units representing about 800, or about 15%, of the total number of Journal Communications employees. A majority of the fulltime employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement work at the daily newspaper. (The Milwaukee Newspaper Guild is the largest by far of the unions at the Journal Sentinel.)
• Dividends paid on shares of Journal stock were 65 cents per share in 2005 and 2006 when the stock price ranged from a low of $10.05 to a high of $15.96. The board of directors declared a first quarter 2007 dividend of 75 cents per share.
• The2006 annual report touts the “unrivaled neighborhood coverage in the greater Milwaukee area” provided by Community Newspapers and a new shared mail product, called Marketplace, launched by the Journal Sentinel.
• The company feels that having the Community Newspapers distributed free with the daily newspaper “should double their distribution in the communities they target.”
• In 2006, Steve Smith, chairman and CEO of Journal Communications, earned total compensation of $1.4 million. Betsy Brenner, executive vice-president and COO of the publishing group, earned a total of $640,387.
After the meeting, Cindy Wargula, HR and the person the union negotiates with for their contract, said the company did not say we would ‘lose’ our benefits and wages if we unionized because we would start with a blank sheet of paper. She would know, right, since she’s the labor specialist that NEGOTIATES with 11 unions, per the Journal Communications 2006 annual report. Betsy Brenner said 7, I said 8… guess we were both wrong… it’s more.
I told Cindy I felt threatened when the comments were made about losing wages and benefits. Am I the only one that felt threatened? I’d really like to hear if you felt that way.
She apologized and tried to argue semantics with me that they never said, “lose,” but they did say “clean sheet of paper” and that they would have to agree to pay the wages and benefits, but we as a collective bargaining unit also have to agree…. Anyone up for a decrease in wages and benefits? I told her we’d have to agree to disagree, but the damage was done to you, not me. I know the law. I spent two month reviewing the law before we ever started this. My hope is that you ALL know what the law is and use it during this very trying time.
Also, this business about to close or not close… Betsy Brenner said they aren’t going to close us down if we unionize, that they would close us down if we didn’t make money…. We’ll folks… didn’t they prove that to us with that balance sheet that said our payroll went from $380,000 to $790,000? Huh… was that accurate? And why are they telling us this now, when we are talking about unions? And did a union cause that deficit? NO….
My point is… that balance sheet does NOT accurately reflect our contribution to the company. And it never will because quite frankly, when Betsy Brenner said… Content doesn’t generate revenue… that truly made no sense to me whatsoever. Do people by papers, blog, listen to the radio, turn on the TV or go on the Internet for ads?
The bottom line… management would like you to use fear to make a decision on whether you should or shouldn’t join the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild.
The CNI union organizers think you are smarter than that.
Fear can be a very powerful deterrent to not do something, but fear will never give you an accurate picture to make a decision – one that you have a LEGAL right to make.
Some of our colleagues have taken it upon themselves to tell you that you shouldn’t join the union. Their arguments are all based on fear, not fact. It’s also illegal for a supervisor to EVER ask you if you are for or against the union. Katie Klein and Sue Nord have been having those conversations. Sorry guys… nothing personal, but the law will be followed.
I know many of you have already been asked. These conversations are being documented and will be used in a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board. And to those of you who are doing it, it needs to stop. If you have, please e-mail me at denieslockwood@sbcglobal.net
At the meeting Friday morning, I heard… don’t make me lose my job, don’t make them cut my salary and don’t make them cut my benefits. I heard… don’t rock the boat. I heard… you are in the minority and we know better. I also heard a TON of inaccuracies.
Please, please, please don’t make your decision based on the information you heard and saw at these two meetings.
The truth is, it is illegal to threaten or coerce employees with losing their jobs, wages and benefits. If you don’t believe me, PLEASE visit this website. http://www.nlrb.gov/workplace_rights/nlra_violations.aspx
Also… we wondered the same thing about CNI losing money and one of the guild members asked a financial analyst, who owns stock in the journal said this…
“As far as I've seen, Journal does not break out the financial performance of the Community newspapers. With inter-company charges, it is pretty easy to make a subsidiary look unprofitable. The charges might be pretty heavy for Community newspapers within the company.
A better way to look at it is "how much is Community newspapers contributing to the bottom line of the company". They may as a unit be absorbing more than their fair share of corporate overhead and therefore still very important to the on-going profit of the
company.”
With the heavy advertising content, it seems that they should be profitable. It makes one wonder if the accounting is being done fairly within the company.”
Also… this business about JS losing money…
• Journal Communications owns75 community newspapers and shoppers in eight states and the revenue/expenses for these publications are lumped together in the annual report under a general line item of “community newspapers and shoppers.”
• In 2006, the community newspapers and shoppers had operating earnings of $7.1 million. That was up from $2.2 million in 2005.
• Operating earnings of the daily newspaper were $30.7 million in 2006, down from $41.7 million in 2005.
• Advertising revenue for all the websites -- JSOnline, MKEOnline, MilwaukeeMarketplace, Milwaukeemoms and the 25 MyCommunityNOW sites, increased 34.3% in 2006 over 2005.
• In the entire company there are 11 union bargaining units representing about 800, or about 15%, of the total number of Journal Communications employees. A majority of the fulltime employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement work at the daily newspaper. (The Milwaukee Newspaper Guild is the largest by far of the unions at the Journal Sentinel.)
• Dividends paid on shares of Journal stock were 65 cents per share in 2005 and 2006 when the stock price ranged from a low of $10.05 to a high of $15.96. The board of directors declared a first quarter 2007 dividend of 75 cents per share.
• The2006 annual report touts the “unrivaled neighborhood coverage in the greater Milwaukee area” provided by Community Newspapers and a new shared mail product, called Marketplace, launched by the Journal Sentinel.
• The company feels that having the Community Newspapers distributed free with the daily newspaper “should double their distribution in the communities they target.”
• In 2006, Steve Smith, chairman and CEO of Journal Communications, earned total compensation of $1.4 million. Betsy Brenner, executive vice-president and COO of the publishing group, earned a total of $640,387.
After the meeting, Cindy Wargula, HR and the person the union negotiates with for their contract, said the company did not say we would ‘lose’ our benefits and wages if we unionized because we would start with a blank sheet of paper. She would know, right, since she’s the labor specialist that NEGOTIATES with 11 unions, per the Journal Communications 2006 annual report. Betsy Brenner said 7, I said 8… guess we were both wrong… it’s more.
I told Cindy I felt threatened when the comments were made about losing wages and benefits. Am I the only one that felt threatened? I’d really like to hear if you felt that way.
She apologized and tried to argue semantics with me that they never said, “lose,” but they did say “clean sheet of paper” and that they would have to agree to pay the wages and benefits, but we as a collective bargaining unit also have to agree…. Anyone up for a decrease in wages and benefits? I told her we’d have to agree to disagree, but the damage was done to you, not me. I know the law. I spent two month reviewing the law before we ever started this. My hope is that you ALL know what the law is and use it during this very trying time.
Also, this business about to close or not close… Betsy Brenner said they aren’t going to close us down if we unionize, that they would close us down if we didn’t make money…. We’ll folks… didn’t they prove that to us with that balance sheet that said our payroll went from $380,000 to $790,000? Huh… was that accurate? And why are they telling us this now, when we are talking about unions? And did a union cause that deficit? NO….
My point is… that balance sheet does NOT accurately reflect our contribution to the company. And it never will because quite frankly, when Betsy Brenner said… Content doesn’t generate revenue… that truly made no sense to me whatsoever. Do people by papers, blog, listen to the radio, turn on the TV or go on the Internet for ads?
The bottom line… management would like you to use fear to make a decision on whether you should or shouldn’t join the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild.
The CNI union organizers think you are smarter than that.
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