Source: Inky newsroom employees ready to sue management
By Max Pizarro | January 11th, 2013 - 1:33pm
| More

A source with the labor union representing Philadelphia Inquirer newsroom employees says the union is poised to file an unfair labor practice action against the owners of the newspaper.

Union members are angry at management’s push to open a contract nine months before its expiration date, and will not succumb to the demand of a 13% (or an estimated $8 million) in pay and benefits cuts, said the source.

“What we’re hoping to accomplish is working and being covered by our collective bargaining agreement which covers us into October,” said union rep Dan Gross. “We have no interest in taking pay cuts and there’s no way we were going to open our contract.” 

According to a Guild memo, the owner of Interstate General Media told guild members (of both the Inky and the Daily News) that management could liquidate the newspapers if employees don’t budge.

But before they violate the terms of an existing contract and bare any brunt of financial sacrifice, the guild members want a viable and coherent company revenue generating plan from Interstate, owned in part by South Jersey Democratic leader George Norcross III.

The source said the new owners have done some good things since taking charge of the newspaper last April, including hiring solid editorial leaders.

But the new office building that stands on the site of Thomas Jefferson’s secretary of state’s office could ironically be the scene of the death of Philadelphia newspapers, the source said.

Mark Block, vice president of external relations for Interstate General Media, offered no comment.

The Back Room

Buono officially chooses O'Donnell

ATLANTIC CITY – The Democratic Party’s presumptive gubernatorial nominee officially tapped Jason O’Donnell as chairman of the state party.

Read More >

Wake-Up Call

Morning News Digest: May 17, 2013

  Morning News Digest: Friday, May 17, 2013 By Matthew Arco     Smith intends to fight for HCDO seat as Bernie Kenny's name re-emerges in Fulop era   Mayor Jerry Healy’s loss Tuesday night inevitably triggered intra-party discussions about consequences to the Hudson County...

Op-Ed

Time to have the talk we hope to avoid but can’t

By Tedford J. Taylor No topic is a less likely conversation-starter than our eventual deaths. Still, there is a lot to talk about. When polled, about 90 percent of people presented with end-of-life scenarios prefer the prospect of dying at home with... Read More >

Contributors

Chris Christie's recent "Lab Band" weigh-loss surgery scoop remains the talk of the nation.... more »
(5-15-2013) Interpretation of Election Laws Should Further Aims of Democracy - Five Hoboken residents, obviously orchestrated, filed a lawsuit raising concerns about Carmelo Garcia’s eligibility... more »
Au Revoir, PolitickerNJ.com         Recently, I have been writing fewer columns as a contributing columnist for PolitickerNJ.com.  The reason:  I am busily involved with writing a new book.  The... more »
Women in Politics In 2013 men still earn disproportionally more than women, on average 30%... more »

Quote of the Day

Quote of the day

“You represent the grit and tenacity that make Jersey City special. Thank you for believing in this great American experiment called democracy.” - Jersey City Mayor-elect Steve Fulop, to supporters at his victory party last night.

- PolitickerNJ.com

Poll

Grade Assemblyman John Wisniewski's chairmanship of the Democratic Committee
A. He was fearless; an attack dog and relentless party organizer
5%
B. Wiz was good, but not great.
15%
C. He was fair. I got tired of all the emails.
20%
D. Barely passing marks for an uninspiring leader
25%
F. He seemed more in it for himself than the Democratic Party
35%

Resources

Visit the PolitickerNJ.com/resources page for links to the best collection of information on New Jersey state government.

 

  • Polls
  • The best blogs
  • Columnists
  • State election results
  • Assembly election results
  • Local party websites
  • And more.

PolitickerNJ.com/resources