Illinois statehouse reporter laid off

Mike Riopell, Lee's statehouse reporter in Springfield, Ill., was laid off Sept. 27. On Nov. 2, Illinois voters will fill President Barack Obama's vacant Congressional seat.

(Via e-mail. Send tips, links and memos to lee.ent.watch@gmail.com.)

Layoffs for staff; perks for managers?

An update on this week's layoffs at The Times in Munster, Ind., from a reader:

The Times of Northwest Indiana laid off seven people today. From the editorial department and from satellite offices. And the managers got to go to another Cubs game.

Is this kind of reward-the-managers activity taking place at other Lee papers? Send tips, links and memos to lee.ent.watch@gmail.com.

Times cuts 13 jobs

Seven employees were laid off Tuesday at the Times in Munster, Ind., according to Paper Cuts. Six more positions were cut through attrition.

The end of the fiscal year is quickly approaching, which has signaled a round of layoffs in previous years. Know of layoffs? Send tips, links and memos to lee.ent.watch@gmail.com.

Pantagraph lays off all imaging employees

Paper Cuts reports that The Pantagraph in Bloomington, Ill., laid off all of its imaging employees. The blog does not say how many imaging employees the paper had.

Lee ranks first for inefficiencies

Ranked according to revenue-per-employee, analysts say Lee Enterprises is the most inefficient company in the publishing industry. Media General comes in second.

Is this a sign of layoffs to come?

(Via e-mail. Send tips to lee.ent.watch@gmail.com)

Lee outsources California finance jobs to Illinois

A May 18 e-mail from Hanford (Calif.) Sentinel publisher Manuel Collazo announces further finance department consolidations. The Sentinel's finance department will be outsourced to The Pantagraph in Bloomington, Ill. -- about 2,000 miles and two time zones away. Collazo says employees will be laid off on May 28, but does not say how many.

Collazo's announcement:

This afternoon we announced a difficult transition within our Finance department. We will begin participating in a Lee-wide finance regionalization program effective May 31st. Many of the tasks that we perform locally will be consolidated within a regional finance center housed in Bloomington, IL at The Pantagraph, a sister Lee newspaper. Unfortunately, as a result several of the current positions within the finance department will be eliminated effective next Friday, May 28th so this will directly impact the employees in these positions. More details regarding the transition will be forthcoming as they are available. As with any of the difficult situations we have dealt with as a team this year, the expectation is that we will all handle the situation with the utmost professionalism. If you have any or receive any questions regarding this announcement please direct them to me at the office number below or Peggy Chapman at 760.739.6610.

Thank you
Manuel Collazo
President & Publisher, Lee Central CA Newspapers
Director of Circulation, Lee Enterprises
Office: (559) 583-2400

Lee Enterprises also has set up a finance center at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls (Iowa) Courier.

(Via e-mail. Send Lee tips and e-mails to lee.ent.watch@gmail.com.)

Independent Record lays off 5

The Independent Record in Helena, Mont., has laid off a full-time copy desk editor, three part-time copy editors and a part-time sports reporter. Two open positions -- one full-time and one part-time -- also were eliminated. Publisher Randy Rickman said the economic slowdown caused the layoffs; other expenses also have been cut, he said.

(Via e-mails. Send tips and Lee news to lee.ent.watch@gmail.com.)

Santa Maria Times lays off 5

The Santa Maria, Calif., Times laid off five employees in January. The paper also laid off eight employees last year, which had not yet been reported here.

That brings Lee's 2009 layoff total up to 525, and the 2010 total to 16.

(Via e-mail)

Report Lee layoffs or furloughs: Send an e-mail to lee.ent.watch@gmail.com from a non-work computer; anonymity guaranteed.

Courier outsources call center, will lay off 4

The Courier in Waterloo, Iowa, will join the ranks of Lee Enterprises newspapers outsourcing its circulation call center to The Times of Northwest Indiana in Munster, Ind. Two full-time and two part-time employees will be laid off.

The memo from Courier publisher David Braton:

Today we are announcing the regionalization of our Circulation Call Center. Effective March 31, 2010 subscribers calling The Courier will be handled by a call center at another Lee newspaper in Munster, Indiana. Local calls from subscribers related to stops, starts, vacations and delivery issues will be routed to Munster. Munster has access to our circulation system and will text message shortage drivers in Waterloo with instructions for deliveries.

We are familiar with regionalization since we are one of six finance centers in Lee. With this change comes the pain that 2 full time, 2 open positions, and 2 part time positions in Circulation have been affected by our regionalization.

David Braton
Publisher
Courier Communications

(Via e-mail)

Suburban Journals lays off 7

Three advertising and four editorial employees were laid off Friday at the Suburban Journals of St. Louis. Remaining employees also must take a one-week unpaid furlough by the end of the fiscal year.

Suburban Journals employees are not members of the St. Louis Newspaper Guild. Lee recently presented its final offer to guild members at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which includes a 6 percent pay cut and three one-week unpaid furloughs over the next three years. The guild will vote Saturday on that offer.

Know of other layoffs or furloughs? Send tips and comments to lee.ent.watch@gmail.com.

Journal Times lays off employees

Racine Post reports that The Journal Times in Racine, Wis., has laid off accounting employees, merging those operations with the billing department at the La Crosse (Wis.) Tribune.

Buyouts offered at Arizona Daily Star

Buyouts are being offered at the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson. Reporters are exempt. A memo from publisher John Humenik says "only a limited number" of buyouts will be accepted from each department, but if that unmentioned target number is not met, layoffs will follow.

Humenik's memo:

Dear Arizona Daily Star colleague,

We are announcing a voluntary workforce reduction program for Star employees who meet certain eligibility criteria. This voluntary program is available to all positions in our newsroom, with the exception of reporters. Only a limited number of volunteers will be accepted from each department.

Eligible employees will meet the following criteria:

• Regular full-time or part-time employment status, working 20+ hours each week;
• Completed 5+ full years of service for Star pension vesting;
• Qualify for the Star pension benefit plan as of Oct 31, 2009 (55+ years of age).

Eligible employees approved for the program will receive:

• A severance package that includes two weeks of pay for each completed year of service (maximum of 26 weeks) in exchange for signing a severance agreement;
• Severance paid bi-weekly for the duration of the period, less any applicable taxes or withholdings;
• Participation in the 65% government subsidy program toward the cost of COBRA for up 9 months to subsidize medical coverage, based on the elected medical plan and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) eligibility guidelines.

If we receive more than an acceptable number of volunteers in a department, we will select employees based on length of service. While we prefer to avoid reductions, it may become necessary to consider an involuntary workforce reduction if we do not receive a sufficient number of volunteers.

If any employee wishes to inquire about the program details, please contact Kelly Acevedo, VP Human Resources, at 573-4252. The deadline to submit a written application to Kelly is 5 PM on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. We will review the applications and meet with the approved employees on November 5th and 6th, with that Friday as the last day of work.

Sincerely,
John M. Humenik
Publisher & Editor

Looking back on FY09

On the first day of the new fiscal year, let's take a look back at the previous one.

The stock price on Oct. 1, 2008, was $3.36. After hitting a new low of 28 cents on Feb. 10 and 17 and March 11, 13 and 31, shares closed Wednesday at $3.03.

At least 515 employees were laid off at Lee papers. Layoffs seemed most common at the end of each quarter. The Times in Munster, Ind., has already said three employees will take buyouts in the new fiscal year, and The Sentinel in Hanford, Calif., said employees will be laid off.

At least nine Lee papers required employees to take unpaid time off. Furloughs have already been announced for the first quarter of the new fiscal year at The Times in Munster, Ind.

Good luck in the new year.

Furloughs coming to Times of Northwest Indiana

Employees at The Times of Northwest Indiana in Munster, Ind., will be taking a five-day unpaid furlough in the first quarter of the new fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

"Unlike others, there are no layoffs planned at The Times,” publisher Bill Masterson Jr. said of the paper's 2010 fiscal budget plan. However, three employees have accepted buyouts.

What is planned for the new fiscal year at your paper? Send tips to lee.ent.watch@gmail.com.

Layoffs coming to The Sentinel

In the 2010 strategic plan for The Sentinel in Hanford, Calif., publisher Manuel Collazo says positions will be cut and the Saturday and Sunday editions will be combined. Production will be moved to Selma, Calif., and newsroom and advertising resources will be "realigned" and reorganized.

The bullet points from the plan, which was released Aug. 5, include:

• Moving the Hanford production department to the Selma plant; creating a unified production facility and enabling the expansion of our commercial print business
• Aligning our home delivery and single copy resources to support a more efficient distribution system
• Reorganizing our newsroom resources for the quick development and deployment of a 24/7 newsroom positioned to drive critical content for our online audiences
• Product changes that drive target print audiences and support a more profitable advertising business model
• Elimination of the Lemoore Advance and creation of a twice a week "Lemoore Edition" of the Sentinel
  
• Development of an Entertainment product, in print and online
• Consolidation of our Saturday & Sunday Sentinel editions and development of a new Saturday weekend edition
• Realigning advertising sales resource to better focus on key areas of growth: local retail, secondary markets and online advertising
• Unifying the Sentinel and Weeklies' advertising departments under central advertising leadership
• Reinvesting in marketing -- focusing on key initiatives to drive advertising revenues, audience promotion and deepen our connection with the communities we serve

Read Callazo's memo. (PDF)

If layoffs are already planned at one paper, I have to wonder if similar announcements will soon be made at other Lee papers.

(Via e-mail)

20 more laid off from Suburban Journals of St. Louis

At least 20 newsroom employees were laid off Wednesday at the Suburban Journals of St. Louis. That's in addition to the 28 employees who were laid off last week. The 16-edition paper has also eliminated six editions.

(Via e-mails)

Madison papers announce buyouts, merge departments

The Wisconsin State Journal and The Capital Times are cutting 15 positions. Buyouts have been offered; if there are not enough takers, layoffs will follow.

The papers operate under a joint operating agreement: Lee owns the State Journal, and Capital Newspapers owns the Times. Their JOA is getting very close. The papers will now merge several newsroom departments: Features, sports, photography, multimedia, design and production. Only news and opinion remain separate, although breaking news coverage is already a joint operation.

(Via e-mail)

A closer look at Form 8-K

Want a closer look at Lee's earnings report? Here's Form 8-K, which is required by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It includes a letter from CEO Mary Junck, who says the company's "streamlining of costs" is on track.

"Thanks in part to 22 percent reductions in the third quarter, we expect to reduce full-year 2009 cash costs, excluding unusual items, about 17 percent below 2008, a decrease of nearly $140 million. Among our many cost actions, we have completed page width reduction across the company, realigned staffing and consolidated or outsourced printing and distribution in several more locations."

Money spent on newsprint and ink has dropped -- 41.4 percent in the last fiscal quarter. Compensation is down 22.4 percent in the last quarter, and 18.3 percent from a year ago. Circulation is down 6.3 percent in the last quarter, and 4.9 percent from a year ago.

The letter also points out that the previously voted on and approved reverse stock split will not take place. (Which is one of those things that happened while this blog was on hiatus.)

You can also see Lee's other SEC filings.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch outsources circulation, lays off 39

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch laid off 36 circulation and 3 classified employees on May 22. Circulation jobs were outsourced to The Times of Northwest Indiana.

On July 8, members of the St. Louis Newspaper Guild rejected a second furlough request. In a previous vote, the union agreed to a furlough in exchange for a no-layoff guarantee from Lee. Lee countered, offering a guarantee of no layoffs through September in exchange for the weeklong furlough. That is the request the union rejected on July 8.

Lee and the union are working on a new contract. Lee started negotiations by asking for a 23 percent wage cut -- 15 percent in the first year and 5 percent each in the second and third years of the contract. Other proposals include:

• The ability to lay off employees for any reason and suspend employees for up to three days without "just cause."
• Eliminating of paid maternity leave, retiree medical and life insurance, 401(k) match and a guaranteed base for commission sales reps.
• Increasing the employee share of medical premiums to 30 percent from 25 percent.

(Via e-mails)

Popular Daily News writer laid off

Features writer/editor/columnist Cathy Zimmerman was laid off from The Daily News in Longview, Wash., on May 18. Zimmerman had been at the paper for 25 years.

(Via e-mail)