Calling a reorganization/layoff plan "devastating to our newspaper and website," the Star Tribune's newsroom union wants management to extend a buyout to reporters to forestall the "ill-advised elimination of an entire craft — copy editing."

This Sophie's Choice is in response to management's plan, announced last week, to buy out up to 18 of 24 staffers in the "A-scale copy editing" category. While the plan calls for around 30 of 275 newsroom jobs to be whacked, top editors made it clear they wanted to keep all "news-gatherers": reporters and their direct editors.

The Newspaper Guild memo (below) notes, "A-scale copy editors represent 424 years of service to the Star Tribune; we believe their loss will likely affect the quality of our newspaper and website. ... [W]e believe that retaining some editing and production positions would make the transition to a smaller operation smoother and less traumatic to those employees remaining."

While the A-scale could be all but wiped out, copy editing isn't being totally eliminated; higher-ranking positions remain. Management has announced five new "team leader/slot" positions, allowing them to pluck five A-scalers they want to keep, regardless of seniority. (The A-scale also includes three web-side staffers and the editorial-page copy editor who handles letters to the editor.) There's also a chance a few A-scalers could survive, depending on the final numbers.

Still, no one disputes that buyouts (or, lacking volunteers, layoffs) will reach to the top of the Strib seniority scale. While other papers have also protected reporters and targeted copy editors, no one really knows how many mistakes — from the mundane to the libelous — will stay in Strib copy once the plan is implemented. That's why the likely loss of so much institutional knowledge terrifies many.

And, the argument goes, if copy editors want to stay and folks in other categories are looking to leave, why not use buyouts as a carrot for all instead of layoffs for some?

(By the way, the carrot may not always be necessary; on Thursday, a staff memo announced business reporter Liz Fedor was leaving for a job at the Bremer Foundation — the same outfit that hired away Pioneer Press theater critic Dominic Papatola. Fedor is presumably not getting a buyout, and her position presumably will be filled. Management will not comment about the reorganization plan.)

Though the Guild memo specifies reporters, it asks that buyouts be extended to all newsroom categories. It does not specify how many reporting jobs the union is willing to shuck, or what coverage areas would be dropped. Guild co-chair Janet Moore says the union has no target number, or cap, on lost reporting positions. Again, this is Sophie's Choice.

A couple of other notes about the communication. It refers to "eight new jobs" — five slot positions, a Senior Metro Editor, Senior Digital Editor and night general-assignment reporter, says Moore. The Strib has recently promoted a couple of copy editors to g.a. positions, so that could be another A-scale life raft. The two editor positions are currently not in the Guild. The union is actually pissed about that, calling it a "creative shell game to move the salaries into the Guild so you can claim savings on the management side." 

Here's the memo, from Guild co-chairs Moore and David Chanen to editor Nancy Barnes:

January 14, 2010

Dear Nancy,

Last week you outlined a series of steps the Newsroom needs to take to help make the Star Tribune a “successful information company.” Those steps include a workforce reduction of “about 30 positions” in the Newsroom, the majority of them from the Guild. They also include the painful and ill-advised elimination of an entire craft — copy editing. A-scale copy editors represent 424 years of service to the Star Tribune; we believe their loss will likely affect the quality of our newspaper and website.

While our members understand more than most of their colleagues across the country the difficult challenges facing our industry and this institution, we believe the fallout from the impending job cuts will be devastating to our newspaper and website. We are formally requesting that you broaden the buyout offer to include all job titles, including reporting, under Section 7, Article 13 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in an effort to mitigate that pain. We understand that you are averse to cutting “news-gathering” positions; however, we believe that retaining some editing and production positions would make the transition to a smaller operation smoother and less traumatic to those employees remaining.

In addition, we understand that you plan to place at least two managers in the Guild. Remember, the Guild contract requires first consideration of certain job classifications when filling vacant positions. When the Star Tribune board ordered cuts throughout the building several months ago, a reasonable person could conclude those reductions would be done to cut costs. However, we don’t understand how giving a manager a Guild job constitutes a job cut. Instead, it appears to be creative shell game to move the salaries into the Guild so you can claim savings on the management side.

Also, posting eight new jobs while eliminating 30 others begs the question: How many jobs will be eliminated?

Creating a smaller newsroom requires a cohesive, well-planned and executed strategy. You may have crafted these proposals, but it is up to our members to carry them out and to live with the consequences of your actions.  

We would appreciate a prompt response to our request and questions. As always, Guild leadership is ready to meet with you to discuss positive solutions to the challenges facing us.

Sincerely,

Janet Moore/David Chanen
Co-chairs, Star Tribune Newspaper Guild