Los Angeles Times Guild Slams ‘Deeply Insulting’ Layoffs in Open Letter
thewrap.comscathing open letter to the newspaper’s management over its plans to lay off dozens of editorial staff without advance notice. “The company has blindsided us with proposed layoffs — which we will begin bargaining over today — and [executive editor] Kevin Merida and newsroom leadership initially only planned to speak with us on Monday, five long days after announcing their intention to upend many of our lives.
This is deeply insulting,” the letter reads. According to the LA Times report, 74 members of the editorial staff, including 57 unionized staffers, will be laid off, representing 13% of the editorial team.
While reporter layoffs are said to be avoided, the cuts will be among news and copy editors as well as support staff such as photographers and audio editors.“We have made the difficult decision to undergo a reorganization and eliminate certain positions within the company.
The hardest decisions to make are those that impact our employees, and we are not taking this action lightly,” a spokesperson for the Times said in a statement.
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