DESPICABLE, DISGRACEFUL LAYOFFS
Dear Guild members,
It is with a mix of disgust and outrage that I report that four of our members, three from the newsroom and one from advertising, were laid off this morning.
We hear over and over how our ownership here at The Inquirer “is different,” that ownership by a nonprofit does not involve the same financial pressures as ownership by for-profit companies and greedy hedge funds. And yet, look at us, doing the same unimaginative, inhumane thing as all those other owners: putting committed employees out of work.
What a dark day this is, coming on the heels of company meetings touting the excitement of the new office we’ll be opening next week. The nourishment stations! The chairs! The views!
None of it makes a damn bit of difference when you are a company sending employees to the unemployment line.
We sold a printing plant and got a $10 million forgivable pandemic-assist loan from the government, and still our leadership can’t figure out how to run this company without layoffs. Cuts that follow the other kind: buyouts.
But what a view the new offices will have!
Just sayin’.
My heart breaks for our four members. Keep them in yours today — and prepare for a fight to get what we deserve at the bargaining table.
In solidarity,
Diane
