Newark 'Star Ledger' Reduces Salaries, Makes Staffers Pay Partly for Health Coverage

[marmar]

via Editor & Publisher:



UPDATE: Newark 'Star Ledger' Reduces Salaries, Makes Staffers Pay Partly for Health Coverage

By The Associated Press and E&P Staff

Published: May 08, 2009 9:58 AM ET

NEWARK, N.J. New Jersey's largest newspaper says it will reduce employee salaries and no longer cover the entire cost of employee health insurance.

Publisher George Arwady says the moves, announced Thursday, were made necessary by a continuing decline in advertising revenues at The Star-Ledger of Newark.

The salary reductions will be done on a sliding scale, starting July 1. The first $40,000 of an employee's salary will be reduced 5 percent, the next $40,000 by 10 percent.

Employees also will have to pay 25 percent of their health care plan costs.

Earlier this year, the newspaper said it would stop contributing to its employee pension plan and ordered staffers to take 10-day unpaid furloughs this year.

A memo from Arwady to staffers has now been posted at Romenesko and www.poynter.org. Here it is: ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003971160

[Kahuna]

1. A once great paper turned into fish wrap by regurgitating AP stories..

How sad.

[CoffeeCat]

2. These people will not be on the unemployment rolls...

...but they are hurting severely--and their situations will impact the economy.

Many companies have cut pay--by reducing salaries, ceasing to pay for healthcare or requiring
employees to take unpaid time off.

Our family was hit with a $1,000 monthly paycut in Jan. Supposedly, salaries will return to normal
7/1. I'm not holding my breath.

We're not counted anywhere, but we've curbed our spending significantly--as if we've been on unemployment.

We cut out most non-essential spending, cancelled cable, newspaper subscriptions and health club memberships.
Extra money that we have is being socked away and saved because we don't know what will happen next.

We're doing ok, and I'm really not complaining--because we do still have an income and health insurance. However, it's
important to note that when this happens it impacts the economy--and many companies are engaging in this "cost-cutting"
and it is affecting untold numbers of people.

[LiberalEsto]

3. I was a reporter at the Star-Ledger for 11 years

I reluctantly left my job there many years ago to move to another state because of my husband's career. One of my close friends still works there. Back in my day, the paper was a big moneymaker with huge amounts of advertising. They paid very well -- competitive with the big NYC papers -- in order to keep the staff from unionizing.

Last year they demanded that 40% of the paper's employees take buyouts by October, or else the paper would be sold. The buyout target was met, and many long-timers left.

It shocks me that these new cuts follow comes so closely on the heels of those buyouts.

Five of the six newspapers I worked for during my journalism career have shut down. The Star-Ledger is the only one remaining. It's extremely depressing watching newspaper after newspaper going down the toilet.

I'm afraid it won't be long before we'll be saying R.I.P. to our nation's newspapers.

[FarCenter]

4. Do you know any of the folks in this startup?

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/about-us/

[LiberalEsto]

5. Yes, 7 of them

The ones I know are the real old-timers, since I left the paper in 1990. This is fascinating, and thanks so much for posting it. I hope these enterprising folks are able to make a living with their news website.