Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Come on out!

Photo by Steve Carr

Our community action campaign is in full swing, and by request, here's some more information on how you can get involved.

Joe Segura, seen here talking with former Long Beach City Councilman Frank Colonna, is one of our stewards, and the point man for our community outreach campaign. If you'd like to learn more, or would like to help us out, you can reach Joe at

chess4joe@yahoo.com

We'd love to hear from you!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Way to go Joe!! Thank-you for letting them know. I sorry I couldn't be there. You know I like Belmont Shore.

Anonymous said...

Just a question: doesn't canceled subscriptions and advertisements mean less money coming into the newspaper? And, less money would likely lead to further staff reductions, right? I guess I don't understand why the union wants you to cut off your nose to spite your face. But hey, it's your sinking ship.

Anonymous said...

" doesn't canceled subscriptions and advertisements mean less money coming into the newspaper? "

Nowhere in this blog post did it say cancel your subscription.

If you are referring the " Pledge to cancel " campaign, some people are question that method just fyi its a " pledge " not actual cancelation. It empowers the subscriber to demand a better product.
The company is a private company, but if you really look at it its a public company and the readers are the investor. In the business world the company should listen to and answer to the investor.

If you have any better Ideas let us know.

Anonymous said...

So, using your convoluted logic, please explain this "pledge to cancel" nonsense.

Anonymous said...

If someone is unhappy with the service they're getting, why should they just keep paying for no reason?

these guys aren't telling anyone what to do. but if i don't like what's going on, and they give me an option to maybe try and change it, i say sure.

Anonymous said...

But hey, it's your sinking ship.

Yeah it is, but the subscription pledge isn't why she's going down.

Anonymous said...

" So, using your convoluted logic"

So what do you think is a better Idea or strategy?

Anonymous said...

paul.paul.paul.
all you need to do is keep your nose out of union biz and focus on dysfunctional breezer operations that led to the decision by one staff member to bolt.
--- concerned worker

Len Cutler said...

So, using your convoluted logic, please explain this "pledge to cancel" nonsense.

The pledge campaign mirrors other actions that have been successful in past negotiations.

But more importantly, it's worth noting that the campaign is the result of several conversations with community members who told us they had already canceled their subscriptions.

We thought that by giving people another option, and allowing them a chance to communicate with the company before they actually cancel their subscription, it might give the company a chance to rethink its strategy and gain insight into the concerns of their customers before they actually lose more business.

In other words, the company is losing readers either way - we're giving them a chance to find out why and do something about it before it happens. But they have to be willing to listen.

If you look at the circulation numbers, MediaNews has been losing readers in Long Beach for over a decade without any outside help. More than 25% of their readers have moved on since they bought the Press-Telegram.

It's impossible to blame the Guild for the paper's declining circulation. Especially when you remember that staffing is down approximately 80%. That will have an unmistakable effect on the quality of the product - which is the exact reason cited by every community member we're heard from.

Blaming the union for what's happening ignores the full picture. We can't "make" anyone cancel their subscription. What we can do is ask people to tell the company why before they do it, and give the company a chance to avert the sort of cuts that have already decimated the paper's finances.

Len Cutler said...

paul.paul.paul.
all you need to do is keep your nose out of union biz and focus on dysfunctional breezer operations that led to the decision by one staff member to bolt.
--- concerned worker



No more personal attacks.

Anonymous said...

The "pledge to cancel" campaign still sounds pretty weak. In fact, all your tactics have been pretty weak. Good luck getting that contract. You'll still end up with zero raises, if you're lucky.

Len Cutler said...

The "pledge to cancel" campaign still sounds pretty weak. In fact, all your tactics have been pretty weak. Good luck getting that contract. You'll still end up with zero raises, if you're lucky.

Actually, the negotiations have already established a wage increase of 2% at ratification, and another 2% at end of the first and second years.

Anonymous said...

Then sign, already! What the hell are you waiting for?

Anonymous said...

the blog administrator is out of control. there have been legit comments posted, and deleting them simply because they were generated from the breezit is unfair. being on the guild payroll does not give you the mandate to dictate the dialogue.