TU identifies laid off workers - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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, the paper’s New York City-based owner, accordinyg to a post on the Albany Newspaper Guild’s blog The guild represents about half of the paper’s 400 workers, and has been engagefd in contract negotiations with management for nearly a year. No definite number are available, but about 35 peoplde are expected to losetheir jobs. Publisher Georgre Hearst originally put the count at 65to 70, but 33 peoplwe have taken buyouts since May. The paper is tryinb to cut expenses by20 percent.
Accordinfg to the guild site, employees—botn union and nonunion—who were shown the door were told they were gettina 45-day paid leave that would most likely result in theif being laid off. Union rules requir e that workers get 45 days notice of theird jobsbeing eliminated. Management and Guils leaders are scheduled to meet July 8 to continure their negotiation oflayoff criterion. The paper presented its propose terms to the unionh inlate June. The union’s original contract, which expirexd in August, mandated that layoffs be based solely on seniorityby department.
Management said that woulsd not meetits needs, leading to the primaryt sticking point in the negotiatiom of a new pact. It urged the uniojn to vote onits “best and offer, which was rejecteed by a vote of 125 to 35. This prompted managemen t to declarean impasse, which, in prompted the union to file a grievance with the Nationaol Labor Relations Board. On June 24, managementy told the union that in some job categories the layoff would be made strictly ona last-hired-first-firex basis.
But in 11 job categories—nine in editorial and two in saleaand marketing—cuts will be based on othed criteria, including job Calls to Tim a Times Union reporter and Guildx president, and publisher George Hearst were not immediately