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In a press release last night, the Newspaper Guild, the union that represents a majority of the Daily News and Inquirer’s editorial employees, discusses what, exactly, management plans to do if there is a strike at the end of the month when the contract expires.
Steve Volk reports today that both sides are preparing for the worst, with 3,000 picket signs being ordered by the union and management offering “Great Temporary Opportunities” for “[p]hotographers, artists, image designers, copy editors, page designers, reporters and news assistants. Newspaper experience a plus! $17-$20/hour.” It doesn’t say what newspaper it is, but after a phone call it was revealed that it was at a newspaper whose employees could be striking come December. Take a guess.
The Guild adds this (emphasis mine):
A Guild member responded to the ad and got a company calling itself Strom Engineering. The Guild “job applicant” was told that the undisclosed company was a newspaper operation on the East Coast that “could be in Philly,” but Strom declined to be specific.
When the “job applicant” said he was interested in politics and would love to cover City Hall and government, but had no experience except for penning a few letters to the editor, he was told that may not be a problem. Send your resume along and we’ll try and take care of you, he was told.
When the caller said he had a couple friends looking for work too, including one who just got out of prison and was a great fighter, he was told to also have them send their resumes along, as there are no background checks.
If they got the job, the company is willing to pay reporters and other editorial employees an hourly rate based on a minimum 60-hour work week, with no benefits.
If there’s a strike, look for the Daily News to finally publish O.J. Simpsons’s If I Did It in serial form.
Full guild release after the jump.
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