14 laid off in editorial today. No April fools joke

Fourteen people were laid off today in Editorial today. In May some 24 copy editor and layout jobs will be outsourced.  That leaves less than 30 to put out a paper.

Here's a notice from the Plain Dealer union of the Newspaper Guild:

After months of difficult negotiations, members of The Plain Dealer unit of the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild, Local 1, came to an agreement Friday afternoon with the company.

The agreement, which members voted to ratify in a vote over the weekend, extends the Guild’s contract with The Plain Dealer through February 28, 2021, and continues important protections for overtime, vacation and severance pay. It also eliminated furlough days, which on average will return $2,700 to each member annually.

For those who are laid off from the newsroom on April 1 and whose jobs will be outsourced in early May, the agreement provides the option of extended health care benefits.

The Plain Dealer also agreed to explore ways to make sure our newsroom reflects the diverse community we serve.

There’s nothing that can make up for losing the jobs of 35 journalists, many of whom have dedicated decades to the newspaper and to the Greater Cleveland community.

The Guild was in the position of trying to come to an agreement that would benefit all of its members -- those whose jobs are being eliminated and those who will be left behind.

In making this deal, the Guild gave up a grievance over whether The Plain Dealer had the right to outsource the jobs to Advance Local, a subsidiary of its parent company, Advance Publications. The Guild did not give up its ability to pursue similar grievances in the future, and it maintains that Advance Local and Advance Ohio, which operates cleveland.com, are not completely separate entities from The Plain Dealer.

“This has been an incredibly challenging few months for our members, all of whom continued to produce excellent journalism amidst so much uncertainty and stress. Fortunately, we were able to come to a deal that provides some benefit to everyone. That’s because we have a union. Without the Guild, we wouldn't have had a seat at the table to advocate for our members,” said PD News Guild unit chair Ginger Christ. “We will continue to fight for our members, for our unit and for the community, which deserves great journalism and a free and independent press.”