Gannett 1-week furloughs

It may be bad and disgraceful but if you are furloughed for a week and still care so much that you work just to prove you are a good beat writer, you are a moron.

And that comes from a mid-managment type who checks my office e-mail multiple times on days off to make sure there are no problems that I should be taking care of.

 

If the furlough is forced upon you, take the time to plan life after newspapers.

To me, this is management testing the waters, trying to see just how many people it takes to simply put the paper out. Fuck quality. So, when they have their magic number, the permanent cuts will come.

 

That same thought has crossed my mind. It's what worries me the most about the whole thing.

 

Furlough plans are certainly nothing new. The Goodyear plant here shut down for a week three times last year. From a cost-saving standpoint, it's a great way to do it. The first quarter is almost always very weak, even in financially strong times, so why not try it? While it certainly sucks for the people having to do this, one week's less pay is far better than 52 weeks less.

 

The only difference is this way, you get a week off.

 

I'm (mostly) past my anger at this bullshit idea of GCI's.

But I know that unemployment will provide part of the money that I should be earning at my job. Better yet, if I can get the week off in March or even late February, I can probably line up a temp job to offset part of the loss...and not have to wait 2-3 weeks for the state's unemployment check.

Better yet, I can kick up my prep for finding a new job, whenever the economy improves, or whenever GCI generously offers me (and others) permanent, unlimited weeks off without pay.

 

Yes, it means you do no work. If I were a good beat writer who couldn't stay away, I would be lining up freelance pieces rather than shipping items to the paper or mentoring the replacement person.

How can you argue with that, Freddie?

 

I'm guessing most beat writers won't take their week off during their season unless they want to.

 

You have to take it by the end of March for Gannett.

 

If I had to take a week and I was in the middle of the season, I would turn off my cell and not do a single thing during the week.

The fact that this has to be done by March leads me to believe the next round of layoffs come April 1.

 

It's the end of the first quarter. I don't know if layoffs will come April 1 but I think it's a good bet they won't come in February now.

 

Exactly. No cell, no calls, no emails, nothing. No work.

The only work I would do is freelancing for someone else during that time. If Gannett is going to force me to not work and not get paid, then I will find someone to buy something from me that normally would have been in the paper. It may be a website, a magazine, a school or local sports team that needs a Web boost.