Dear newsroom leaders,
Since the Los Angeles Times Guild started negotiating our new contract in September, our bargaining committee has met with management representatives more than two dozen times. Executive editor Kevin Merida has attended twice. No managing editor, deputy managing editor or section editor has ever participated.
Now, the company has blindsided us with proposed layoffs — which we will begin bargaining over today — and Kevin Merida and newsroom leadership initially only planned to speak with us on Monday, five long days after announcing their intention to upend many of our lives. This is deeply insulting.
We would have been willing to discuss alternatives to layoffs had your representatives at the bargaining table broached the issue at any point in the last nine months. In fact, the Guild has a track record of finding solutions to newsroom budget problems. In the depths of the pandemic financial crisis in 2020, Guild leadership proposed an innovative work-sharing plan to Times management that averted 84 newsroom layoffs.
Instead, the company surprised us with this proposed layoff. We deserve better. The livelihoods of dozens of our colleagues are now on the line. Nothing could be more important for our day-to-day well-being and our professional futures at The Times.
Your handling of this proposed layoff sends a clear message to the newsroom: You don’t care about the contract, and you don’t care about us.
This layoff proposal comes after months of little progress in contract talks. The company’s representatives may be reluctant to discuss what’s happening at the bargaining table, but we’re not. Hundreds of Guild members have observed the negotiations, and the problem is clear. No one representing management is actually in charge.
Most of the team selected to represent you — a lawyer in San Francisco, representatives from HR — aren't journalists. Those representatives don't know the newsroom. They don’t even know which issues are worth fighting for. For example, our bargaining committee was forced to spend several sessions discussing limitations around desk decor, specifically what procedures we should follow if we wanted to bring in birthday balloons for a colleague.
We know it’s tempting to think that, because contract negotiations can be complicated, it’s better to stay out of it and let the company’s lawyer do her work.
But in your absence, your representatives have resorted to intimidation tactics to try to keep us from observing our contract talks. We've filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board because, as journalists, we stand for openness and transparency. We expect the same of our company. What are you afraid that we’ll see? The fact that nothing is getting done?
Our contract expired more than six months ago. No journalist would ever treat a deadline in such a cavalier manner. Now, you have proposed a reduction in staff with no warning or discussion. It’s difficult to imagine an issue more urgent. We expect to see meaningful movement, and soon. We are tired of waiting.
We're willing to do whatever it takes to win the contract that this newsroom deserves. You should be too. Starting now, we need to see a senior newsroom leader at every bargaining session — not just observing, but participating. Show us that you want to make progress. Show us that you care.
In solidarity,
Matt Pearce
Jeanette Marantos
Gabriel San Roman
Julia Wick
Brian Contreras
Jaclyn Cosgrove
Jay L. Clendenin
Sam Dean
Denise Guerra
Mary Kate Metivier
Andrew Turner
Carlos Santana
Laura Nelson
Mark E. Potts
Gale Holland
Alison Dingeldein
Phil Willon
Lauren Raab
Nicole Vas
Jared Servantez
Jad El Reda
Isabelle D’Antonio
Glenn Whipp
Mackenzie Mays
Adam Tschorn
Hugo Martin
Courtney Lewis
Carolyn Cole
Georgia Geen
Tracy Brown
Leslie Cory
Connor Sheets
Robert Gauthier
Lee Rogers
Calvin B. Alagot
Paula Mejía
Maret Orliss
Victor Barajas
Eduard Cauich
Kenan Draughorne
Marisa Gerber
Thuc Nhi Nguyen
An Amlotte
Sonja Sharp
Alexandra E Petri
Sean Greene
Debbie Truong
Lisa Horowitz
Nathan Fenno
David R. Campbell
Brittny Mejia
Anne Elisabeth Dillon
Andrew Khouri
Jerome Adamstein
Andrea Castillo
Yvonne Villarreal
Marina Watanabe
Angie Jaime
Tom Carroll
Taryn Luna
Alison Sneag
Jeong Park
Jim Buzinski
Vanessa Martínez
Jenny Jarvie
Patrick Hruby
Ben Oreskes
Ada Tseng
Jack Dolan
Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Elsa Luna Jones
Ross May
Katie Licari
Dania Maxwell
Kiera Feldman
Kenya Romero
Iris Lee
Lorraine Ali
Jaweed Kaleem
Ben Bolch
Danielle Dorsey
Agnus Dei Farrant
Kasia Broussalian
Jess Hutchison
Angela Jamison
Jim Barrero
Matt Hamilton
Crystal Villarreal
Tyrone Beason
Ben Brazil
Ben Mims
Carla Hall
Ryan Kartje
Ashlea Brown
Scott Smeltzer
Vincent Nguyen
Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee
Javier Calle
elena villanueva
Karin Klein
Denise Florez
Julie Giuffrida
Jie Jenny Zou
Valerie Hood
Brian Merchant
Gustavo Arellano
Craig Marks
Amy Kaufman
August Brown
Stephanie Breijo
P.K. Daniel
Soudi Jiménez
Sammy Roth
Todd Martens
David Zahniser
Selene Rivera
Rachel Schnalzer
Marisa Martinez
Joshua Letona
Paloma Esquivel
David Viramontes
Nicholas Ducassi
Carlos De Loera
Alex Wigglesworth
Doug Smith
Marissa Evans
Colleen Shalby
Gillian Glover
Joseph Binoya
Bill Shaikin
David Lewis
Christi Carras
Sandhya Kambhampati
Samantha Masunaga
Jackie Calmes
Elena Gooray
Dwayne Rogers
Erika D. Smith
Suhauna Hussain
Summer Lin
Asal Ehsanipour
Helen Li
Jennifer Arcand
Mark Olsen
Abhinanda Bhattacharyya
Jason Sanchez
Kerry Cavanaugh
David Toledo
Jack Flemming
Nafeesa Syeed
Mike DiGiovanna
Arit John
Matthew Cooper
Eric Terrazas
Nunzio Ingrassia
Dawn Burkes
Corinne Purtill
Lila Seidman
Hailey Branson-Potts
Brandon Choe
Alexandra Del Rosario
Javier Panzar
Jessica Garrison
Yadira Flores
Myung Chun
Jason Armond
Thomas Curwen
Jonah Valdez
Steve Eames
Deborah Netburn
Hamlet Nalbandyan
Brian van der Brug
Karen Kaplan
Christopher Knight
Christian Martinez
Eric Licas
Robert Greene
Phi Do
Jim Rainey
Julia Carmel
Suzy Exposito
Jessica Roy
Kevin Ueda
Doug Norwood
Gina Ferazzi
Robert Lloyd
Eduardo Gonzalez
Christian Orozco
Melanie Mason
Maneeza Iqbal
Chris Price
Liam Dillon
Deborah Vankin
Josh Rottenberg
Laura Newberry
Wendy Lee
Allen Schaben
Matt Szabo
Paul Ybarrondo
Nardine Saad
George Skelton
Jessica Gelt
Emily Alpert Reyes
Greg Braxton
Priscella Vega
Greg Diaz
Paul Duginski
Paul Thornton
Daniel Miller
Matt Wilhalme
Angeline Woo
Justin Chang
Albert Lee
Frank Shyong
Noah Bierman
Sarah Mosqueda
Laura Schinagle
Parisa Hajizadeh-Amini
Alexander Higgins
Carolina Miranda
Jessica Martinez
Michael Finnegan
Ben Poston
Steve Lopez
Kelly Corrigan
Sarah Valenzuela
Lucas Kwan Peterson
Doyle McManus
Ashley Lee
Melissa Gomez
Brady McCollough
Jenn Harris
Bill Addison
Dakota Smith
Anita Chabria
Steve Henson
Evita Timmons
Ed Stockly
Genaro Molina
Laura Blasey
Sonaiya Kelley
Tony Barboza
Jamil Smith
Cody Long
Amy Wong
Nicolas Perez
Dorany Pineda
Elsie Ramos
Robert J. Lopez
Nick Leyva
Rachel Uranga
Matt Ormseth
Christie D’Zurilla
Hayley Smith
Jose S. Mancia
Jeff Amlotte
Salvador Hernandez
David Carrillo Peñaloza
Lisa Boone
Karen Garcia
Kevin Leung
Kevinisha Walker
James Queally
R. Marina Levario
Sergio Burstein
Seema Mehta
Katie Antonsson
Raul Roa
Rebecca Ellis
Mel Melcon
Mark Z Barabak
Christopher Reynolds
Rachel Dunn
Faith E. Pinho
Kay Scanlon
Dan Woike
Keri Blakinger
Steven Vargas
Charles McNulty
Jeremy Childs
Grace Toohey
Libor Jany
Sara Cardine
Melody Gutierrez
Roger Vincent
Christina House
Jessica Q. Chen
Tony Briscoe
Paul Feldman
David Santillan
Noah Goldberg
Cindy Carcamo
Teresa Watanabe
Reed Johnson
Jack Herrera
Brennon Dixson
Emily St. Martin
Taylor Arthur
Don Ragland
Ian James
Hamed Aleaziz
Susanne Rust
Andrew J. Campa
Curtis Zupke
Diana Shantic
Kate Sequeira
Vanessa Franko
Joe Mozingo
Lorena Elebee
Joy Park
Gerard Lim
Paul Pringle
Robin Abcarian
Julissa James
Gary Coronado
Hannah Wiley
Sue Worrell
Jessica Perez
Elvia Limón
Kevin Crust
Jen Yamato
Andrea Chang
Andre Vergara
Liv Paggiarino
Judy Pryor
Mariah Tauger
Paige St John
Carolyn Horwitz
Adam Elmahrek
Andrew Greif
Kevin Rector
Eric Sondheimer
Rubaina Azhar
Laurence Darmiento
Vanessa Arredondo
Hannah Fry
Meredith Blake
Nathan Solis
David Wharton
Scott Wilson
Jean Guerrero
Jan Molen
Lynn Meersman
Katrina Ten
Kevin Baxter
Wally Skalij
John P. Scheibe
Jim Brooks
Rong-Gong Lin II
Dave Bowman
Jaimie Ding
Alene Tchekmedyian
Russ Mitchell
Jevon Phillips
Shani Escalona
Dave Bennett
Mark Swed
Laura King
Michael Ottey
Aida Ylanan
Erin B. Logan
Sarah D. Wire
Mary McNamara
Jorge Castillo
Kailyn Brown
Luke Money
Michael Ordoña
Broderick Turner
Ameera Butt
Richard Winton
J.R. Lizarraga
Don Lee
Courtney Subramanian
Thomas Suh Lauder
Charles Schilken
Jason Neubert
Lara Hochuli
Kent Nishimura
Ryan Fonseca
Lilly Nguyen
Astrid Kayembe