KGMB News reported yesterday that Charley Memminger is taking a voluntary severance package and leaving the Star-Bulletin, making room for another reporter to avoid being laid off.
According to the Hawaii Newspaper Guild:
When there is a layoff, the contract provides that a more senior employee may volunteer for layoff in place of a less senior employee who is slated to be laid off. The Company has told the Guild it will consider those requests on a case-by-case basis. Employees considering volunteering for layoff should let a Guild officer know or call the Guild office.
And according to a Tweet sent out by Gene Park, another one of those being laid off, court reporter Ken Kobayashi is also packing up things from his desk. It’s the second time around for Kobayashi, who took a buyout from Gannett’s Honolulu Advertiser in late 2007, and returned to cover courts again for the Star-Bulletin.
A Guild notice also said:
The Guild is concerned about the Company’s announcement in our meeting on Feb. 9th that it may reassign some Guild members to areas outside their field of expertise. Star-Bulletin management maintains its right to make and change assignments, but the Guild is seeking protections for employees who may be given tasks so far out of their field of expertise that they could be set up to fail. At a minimum, we will ask for necessary training before the Company makes such assignments.This is a difficult period and the uncertain situation has people on pins and needles. However, we need to be patient and diligent in working out these and other issues with the Company to make sure members’ rights and the contract are honored.
Please know that in these uncertain times a lot of people say a lot of things. Some are correct and many are not. Beware of rumors and how they spread. And please be sensitive and understanding to those on the layoff list. They are going through a horrible ordeal right now.
Also understand that most managers are also scared. The Company may not need so many managers to manage 17 fewer workers. Managers do not have to be laid off by seniority and likely will not get any severance pay. They are at-will employees and can be told to leave at any time.
Not a great time in the news business.
The managers should be worried. There are many of them, yes. They are well paid. And you don’t see any voluntary actions on their parts, such as pay cuts, etc. Good for Charlie although this will be our loss as readers. He’s such a stand-up guy. I admire and respect him even more now.
From personal experience, I would say that a “voluntary severance package” is usually anything but voluntary, as the company usually twists your arm to avoid the embarrassment and potential legal problems of layoffs.
http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/hilo/20090227rod.htm
Rod Thompson reflects on his years in the business, as the Big Island bureau closes down.
City Hall reporter Laurie Au also ends her run with the paper: http://blogs.starbulletin.com/inpolitics/aloha-laurie/
BTW, Star-Bulletin cartoonist Corky Trinidad died recently.