Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
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August 15-21, 2002
city beat
Guild digs in
In a show of unity, hundreds of Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia Local 10 members, primarily from the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News, convened at a series of standing-room-only meetings on Tuesday evening to begin making plans for low-key but focused protests against the proposed changes at Inquirer, slated to start Oct. 1.
“We had a somber but serious meeting and the group agreed to a series of gradually escalating protests over the layoffs [of the 10 part-time editorial assistants] and the way the people in the suburbs are being treated, regarding their workload and their pay,” explains Henry Holcomb, Guild president and Inquirer staff writer.
Holcomb says that the group agreed unaminously to begin immediately mounting informational picketing against Inky upper management and to advertise their message of discontent in other media.
“The goal is to get their attention,” Holcomb says. “Not to cause trouble, but to show them we’re very concerned and we know they can resolve this if they stop being stubborn.”
Holcomb says that at the top of the union’s list is rescinding the layoffs of 10 part-time editorial assistants, who, upper management says, must be let go in order to hire new reporters. Holcomb also says that although management has been clear about the importance of more intensified suburban coverage, there are siginificant pay differences between the suburban and downtown staff. Contractually, the suburban writers and photographers make about $400 less a week than the rest of the editorial staff, Holcomb says. He also points out that the new suburban plan, which will require a lot more photographs, does not include hiring a single new photographer.
“They’ve acknowledged that the suburbs are the future and now they need to address some of the obvious inequities. They need to be honorable about this,” Holcomb says. “They need our cooperation and this is a warning that you won’t get this cooperation without addressing these unfair layoffs and the pay situation with the workers in the suburbs.”
