News Media Guild

UPDATE 11/19/09 -- The Associated Press notified the News Media Guild that an additional 14 employees received termination notices Wednesday, bringing the total of Guild-covered staffers losing their jobs to 71 this week.

The terminations Wednesday involved nine newspersons, three editorial assistants, one photographer, and one office assistant. The notice appears to state that correspondencies in Dayton, Ohio; Roanoke, Va.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Jacksonville, Fla., are being closed.In addition, the Guild is aware of layoffs among U.S. managers and overseas staff.

Guild members, citing managers, have reported that more people may lose their jobs Thursday. The AP has not informed the union about future staff reductions, despite Guild requests for information. AP has not provided any assurance to the union that the company is "finished" with this current round of staff reductions.

Guild-covered employees are urged to request a union representative be present in any meetings with management and not to sign any documents presented to them.

11/18/09 UPDATE - The Associated Press informed the Guild late Tuesday evening that 57 employees received termination notices earlier in the day. The list includes 33 newspersons, 19 editorial assistants, and five photographers. Original Item: 

(NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2009) -- Dozens of Guild covered employees at Associated Press were laid off Tuesday, as the news cooperative followed through on plans to achieve a ten percent payroll reduction by the end of 2009. The Guild learned of the terminations from reports by its members. The company has not yet provided formal notice to the union of today's terminations as required by its contract, which covers about 1,300 editorial and technology unit employees in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It was unknown how many managerial or non-US employees were let go. "This is a very sad day for our AP colleagues and the public who relies on their important news work," said Tony Winton, News Media Guild president. "We will be following up on all terminations to make sure that all benefits are paid and that seniority rules were applied properly," he said. Under the Guild's contract, seniority generally prevails in staff reductions. Laid off employees are entitled to proper notice, severance pay, and have a re-hire right if jobs later become available in their business location. Anticipating the cuts, the Guild and AP reached agreement on detailed job security terms in the most recent contract. The contract also provides AP the option of offering transfers and buyouts in cases of staff reductions. However -- except for a few cases -- it appears that AP has chosen not to offer buyouts, a stance Winton said was "very disappointing." As of 4 p.m., eastern time, the Guild had heard reports of more than 38 terminations from coast to coast affecting managers, reporters, editors, photographers, and editorial assistants. In New York, the AP's headquarters, the Guild learned of 20 terminations. Earlier in the month, the company notified its AP Television News employees in Tallahassee, Fla. that their positions were being eliminated by year's end. The Guild also learned from its sister local in Puerto Rico that AP was severely curtailing operations there, terminating eight employees. In both cases, the staffers had learned of the reductions from clients, before being informed by AP. This is largest round of layoffs since 2006, when AP laid off about 100 technology workers. Earlier in the year, about 100 employees accepted a voluntary early retirement package.The News Media Guild is Local 31222 of The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO. It also represents workers at United Press International and U.S. employees of Spain's EFE News Service.