Copy editor, New Jersey

I'm still stuck on the question of why anyone stays. I guess you could explain taking a job there as ignorance, or pride ("I can handle all the BS"). Like I said earlier, it can't be for the pittance they pay. Not for the chance to cover major beats. If we really wanted to make a point to the company, the staff and potential future staffers would begin some sort of boycott. If everyone quits and no one applies for the jobs, to the point they can't get a newspaper out, then you'll have effectively put them out of business. But the fact that will never happen is exactly why they can get away with it.

 

I think that's the whole point of this thread, aero. To warn young and old alike to stay the fuck away. I don't wish ill on the remaining two copy editors, but I hope like hell they don't hire anyone new.

 

Well, consider that it's the same seven or eight people posting messages over and over. People who don't add anything else to the site.

 

If this thread is so dull to you, due to repetition of posts from the same seven or eight people, then why do you still keep coming back to read the thread and make posts on it? You're obviously welcome to do so, I was just wondering.

aero, maybe it is strange that some people stay at any JRC paper for more than one minute. Still, that doesn't mean they deserve to be treated in the fashion they are treated by JRC goons, a group which now does include Aaron. The guy is a powder keg waiting to explode. He's one step away from forcing his employees to wear plastic bags while exercising just to get them into shape. Getting them into shape is not a bad idea, but it's his method. Getting the department into shape is not a bad idea, but it's his method.

 

My information is not current, but 10-15 years ago the veterans there were making decent money for a paper that size relative to the COL. Not major-metro pay, but mid-30s to low-40s at that time for non-managers who had been there a long time, and people with a year or two of experience were being hired at mid-20s. Whatever they're doing now, I can't say, but long-timers were not starving and they probably are staying for the money.

 

I have a friend who used to work at The Trentonian, so the thread interested me at first. Now, it's more of a train wreck that I gawk at from time to time.

My friend left because it was a disaster. He moved on and got a better job. Maybe some of you should do that same.

 

Well, none of the people complaining and saying that this place is some sweatshop hellhole talk about the pay or benefits. Most of the copy editors in question are making low- to mid-30s to low-to-mid-40s. No one's getting rich, but no one's starving either for a sports job at this size daily.

Also, the company pays 100 percent of health insurance premiums. The plan's not great, but nothing comes out of employees' paychecks to cover health care. Show me other newspapers that do that.

Also, staffers get three weeks paid vacation after two years, some personal days, generous sick time that carries over from year to year, and they get time and a half plus a paid comp day for working holidays.

Complain for other reasons. But, sweat shop? Hardly.

 

It's not exactly utopia either.

 

They don't pay 100 percent health premiums any more. That stopped with the wave of new hires in 1994-95. Also, the benefits were slashed this year so they're almost not worth having.

 

Agreed. I pay a pretty good amount on health care. It blows. I will be going onto my sig other's insurance ASAP after we get married.

 

Aeroking, you and others keep saying you're amazed as to why people stay at The Trentonian. My question to you is who is staying? If you think people are staying there, then you're missing the point. It's always been precisely the opposite. People are always leaving and they are leaving because of how bad a company JRC is to work for.

Since 1997, I'd say there's been almost 150 people who have been employed in the sports department at The Trentonian either in a full-time or part-time capacity. Only 3 of those 150 employees will still be there in two weeks from now. Everybody leaves The Trentonian. A very rare few stay.

It's the revolving cycle. They bring in fresh blood to replace disgrunted workers who either quit due to misery or were fired. It works fine for a while, but in not even a year, these workers are savvy to the horrific conditions and are miserable. By the end of their first year, they want out desperately and they start searching more and more actively for other jobs. Generally, by their second or third year, they find one and quit. And then a new batch of workers come in, typically fresh-out-of-college kids, wet-behind-the-ears, with chipper attitudes and lower salaries. And after a while, they become miserable and eventually quit.

So, where Aeroking are you coming up with this theory that people stay at The Trentonian? Is it because of the news that this past week two workers who have been there over a decade quit? Even including those workers in the figures gives you roughly 5 workers out of 150 that stayed for a while. If anything, those two workers' resignations are a reflection on the inefficient managerial skills of this Bracey guy and his brutal tactics. It should clue you in on how bad this guy is if they could tolerate the 20 previous sports editors and JRC tactics, but couldn't deal with Bracey for 3 months.

Aeroking and others, if you're breaking it down even further and want to know specifically why those three remaining longtime sports staff workers have stayed there, I can take a pretty good guess.

One of the workers, is as hard-working a worker as you'll ever find. He grew up in Trenton, loves Trenton, loves his job, and loves The Trentonian for what it used to be pre-JRC. He's been there for over 30 years and he'll keep plodding along, trying to keep the paper afloat, cover 5 things a day every day of the week, all the while not caring if JRC doesn't adaquately compensate him or show appreciation. He loves doing what he's doing.

Another worker, is less than a year away from retirement. He's in his 60's and being threatened daily by management. He clings onto his job, hoping and praying he can last the remaining months. He started at the paper well before the JRC years, and by the time he realized how bad the JRC empire was, he was in his 50's and decided to cling on until retirement. He's now a few months away from making it.

The final worker, is a veteran worker who management never bothers. He does whatever he wants, whenever he wants. He loves his job because he's his own boss. He'll cover what he feels like covering and work as many hours as he desires. For roughly seven months of the year, he operates on a 15-hour work week and gets paid for 40. This worker gives himself a raise if he feels he deserves one, by falsifying his mileage sheet. Given a life like this, why would this worker ever leave?

 

Wrong. JRC definitely does not elsewhere, but Trentonian still pays 100 pecent of health premiums under the terms of its union contract. Probably that's why staff has never tried to renegotiate contract.