April 24, 2024

Chicago Sun-Times Lays Off All Its Full-Time Photographers

The union representing many of the laid-off photographers plans to file a bad-faith bargaining charge with the National Labor Relations Board, a union leader said.

The Sun-Times Media company didn’t immediately comment on how many jobs were affected, but the national Newspaper Guild issued a statement saying 28 employees lost their jobs. The layoffs included photographers and editors at The Sun-Times’s sister publications in the suburbs.

“I’m still in shock,” said Steve Buyansky, a laid-off photo editor for three of the group’s suburban newspapers. “I’m not angry right now. Maybe I will be later.”

Mr. Buyansky said about 30 photographers and photo editors were called to a mandatory meeting Thursday morning where the editor of The Sun-Times, Jim Kirk, “talked for about 20 seconds” telling them the layoffs were a tough decision.

Mr. Buyansky said Pulitzer Prize-winning Sun-Times photographer John H. White was in the room and was among those who were laid off. “It’s sad,” said Mr. Buyansky, speaking from the Billy Goat tavern, a longtime watering hole for Chicago journalists, where about 10 laid-off photographers congregated after the meeting. “The Sun-Times had an amazing photo staff.”

Sun-Times Media released a statement Thursday to The Associated Press confirming the move: “Today, The Chicago Sun-Times has had to make the very difficult decision to eliminate the position of full-time photographer, as part of a multimedia staffing restructure.” The statement noted that the “business is changing rapidly” and audiences are “seeking more video content with their news.”

The executive director of the Chicago Newspaper Guild, Craig Rosenbaum, said an unfair labor practice charge would be filed in reaction to the company’s announcement. The union is negotiating a new contract and the company told the union at the bargaining table recently that no layoffs of photographers were planned, Mr. Rosenbaum said.

Like most major newspapers, The Sun-Times, which was bought by the investment company Wrapports in 2011, has been hard hit by the technological shift that has cause more people to rely on their personal computers and mobile devices to stay informed. As more readers have embraced digital alternatives, so have advertisers in a move that has been steadily siphoning away newspaper publishers’ biggest source of revenue.

The Chicago Sun-Times ended September 2012 with a paid circulation of 263,292, according to the most recent statement filed with the Alliance for Audited Media. That contrasted with circulation of about 341,448 at the same time in 2006. Including satellite editions that operate under other names, the Sun-Times” circulation totaled 432,451 in September 2012.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/01/business/media/chicago-sun-times-lays-off-all-its-full-time-photographers.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

After Losing Vote, Union Vows to Try Again at Target

The National Labor Relations Board announced on Saturday morning that 137 workers had voted against joining the union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, while 85 workers had voted for it. The unionization drive sought to make the store on Long Island the first of Target’s 1,750 stores in the United States to be unionized.

In a statement, the president of U.F.C.W. Local 1500, Bruce W. Both, said that the workers at the Valley Stream store had endured a “campaign of threats, intimidation and illegal acts by Target management.” As a result, he called on the National Labor Relations Board to direct a new election and order Target to cease its “illegal activity.”

Responding to the union’s allegations, Molly Snyder, a Target spokeswoman, denied that the company had engaged in any intimidation or illegal practices. “Target believes we have followed all laws as outlined by the National Labor Relations Board,” she said.

At the Valley Stream store on Saturday morning, Derek Jenkins, Target’s senior vice president for stores in the Northeast, hailed the results and said, “At Target, it has always been our goal to have a culture where our team members don’t want or need union representation.”

In the days before the vote, union officials said a victory would be a coup that would create momentum for organizing drives at retail stores elsewhere in New York and across the country. Target executives repeatedly told the store’s 250 hourly employees that no union was needed and that the union would make work rules more rigid and make it harder for Target to compete.

“Target did everything they could to deny these workers a chance at the American dream,” said Mr. Both, of the union local. “However, the workers’ pursuit of a better life and the ability to house and feed their families is proving more powerful. These workers are not backing down from this fight. They are demanding another election. They are demanding a fair election.”

During the organizing drive, pro-union workers said the main issues included low wages and work assignments that often totaled just 10 or 20 hours a week — not enough, they said, to support themselves or their children.

The union filed a complaint with the labor board last month asserting that Target had unlawfully prohibited employees from wearing pro-union buttons and from discussing working conditions on online sites. It also said Target had unlawfully threatened employees with dismissal if they spoke about the union.

In meetings and fliers, Target officials told employees that a union could not guarantee better pay or benefits and that the organization only wanted their dues. In a move that worried numerous workers, the company said there were no guarantees that the store would remain open if the workers unionized.

“Target is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful culture,” Mr. Jenkins said. “We believe in solving issues and concerns by working together with the help and input of all team members. Our team has embraced that philosophy by rejecting union representation.”

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=0440f46226f79486082edafe94b123d9