As many local readers know, The Blade and the unions have reached a settlement after 17 months of negotiations, including 14 months after the contract expired and 9 months after the company locked out 5 unions and more than 200 workers.
Although the reporters and editors were not locked out, it remained a looming threat through the whole ordeal, especially after our general manager, who has all the diplomatic skills of Charles Barkley, told Editor & Publisher magazine that locking us out would be "a slam dunk" and "a piece of cake."
My friends ask if I am relieved that the labor strife is over. They've been so supportive through this difficult time, offering words of encouragement and prayers through these stressful months.
I so appreciate their genuine concern and feel bad when I tell them that relieved is not the word to express my feelings.
Devastated is more like it. Depressed. Worried about the future.
First of all, I and my colleagues are taking major pay cuts -- about 9 percent, effective immediately. At one point they talked about 3 percent a year for 3 years, which would have been easier to swallow. In addition, we are paying more for our health care, and our retirement accruals are frozen.
That's a heavy financial blow. Consider also that we went three years without a raise and prior to that, during the boom years of the 1990s when newspapers were raking in the profits and my friends in other industries were getting 7 and 8 and 9 percent raises, we were getting raises of 1 percent.
In addition, a reliable source in management told me that one editor proposed months ago, before the agreement was reached, that management should volunteer to take a pay cut to show that we are all in this together. He was shouted down and even ridiculed for thinking that way.
Besides all that, the company laid off about 30 members of the Newspaper Guild, which includes the newsroom, and is trying to cut staff even further with buyouts and a hiring freeze. We've lost more than 30 of our best reporters and editors to other papers, talented news people who saw the writing on the wall and got out while they could.
In addition, new hires are going to be paid about 75 percent of what current employees earn, with fewer vacation days. We won't be attracting the quality journalists we have in the past, so I hope the owners are not saving a spot on the shelf for another Pulitzer.
It's true that the Blade is and was losing money. Part of it is an industry trend, with the advent of the internet and changing readership habits and lifestyles. Part of it was a lack of vision among decisionmakers as these changes became imminent. Instead of being pro-active, we are dealing with these issues after they've whacked us on the head. Late, and short-sighted.
Meanwhile, Buckeye CableSystem, which the newspaper's owners started with money they earned from The Blade during boon years, earned them a profit of $50 million last year. They claim that that money is separate and doesn't factor into the Blade's financial picture. It wasn't separate when they used the newspaper money to start their cable company.
And finally, the law firm that the Blade hired to negotiate the contract, the notorious King & Ballew of Tennessee, earned millions in fees for their scorched-earth negotiating tactics. The Blade could have saved millions if it had stuck with the attorneys it used in previous contract talks.
So, the contract is settled but I do not feel relieved.
Put it this way: If you knew someone who went into the hospital and came out with their leg or arm amputated, would you ask him if he felt "relieved"? I don't know how to describe all of this in a word or two, but if you've read this far, I think you get the picture. Thanks to everyone who prayed for me and my colleagues.
If you're still in a prayerful mood, pray for The Blade and for the workers who are trying to make the best of a bad situation. Thank you!
Toledo, Ohio June 3, 2007