We here at SFist need to rib the Chronicle or SFGate now and then. In turn, they need to send us angry emails demanding our phone number. It's a dysfunctional relationship, but it works, damnit. Now, however, we're concerned about our fellow print and online publishing ilk at Mission and Fifth. They're in need of fair health care from the Hearst Corporation.
Online via MediaWorkers.org, they write:
We, the employees of the San Francisco Chronicle, have had enough.We love this newspaper, and we’ve worked hard since the layoffs of 2009 to help keep it afloat. We’ve done everything Hearst demanded: sacrificing pay raises, giving up seniority, losing vacation time and holidays, even working through what used to be our paid lunch hour.
For years, we’ve been working twice as hard with a smaller staff — doing everything needed to keep this paper relevant and great.
And this is how the highly profitable Hearst Corporation pays us back.
In our ongoing Guild contract negotiations, Hearst continues to insist that we shoulder huge increases for our health plan. Even offset by a meager proposed raise, this amounts to a pay cut of hundreds or thousands of dollars a year for most of us.
We love the Chronicle, and we love journalism, but we can’t keep donating our own livelihoods to increase the profits of our corporate owners.
Help us tell Hearst that San Francisco deserves better.
Tough times ahead for newspapers. Learn more about how you can help here and here.
Speaking of paying, SF Chronicle wants you to dip into your wallets, too. The Chron (but not SFGate) is now behind a paywall.