By: E&P Staff At a meeting Tuesday afternoon, The Commercial Appeal informed representatives of the Memphis Newspaper Guild that job cuts announced last week would affect nine specific employees in four departments: one in accounting, one in information technology, one in advertising, two in customer service and four in editorial.
Affected personnel are to be notified Thursday and paid through month's end, according to a message from Guild President Daniel Connolly, who added that anyone thinking of leaving the paper anyway can volunteer to be part of the workforce reduction, possibly saving another's job.
Connolly said the number of layoffs would have been higher, had there not been several retirements and voluntary departures.
In talks with Commercial Appeal General Counsel Warren C. Funk, a Guild proposal to save jobs through temporary wage cuts and furloughs was rejected, according to Connolly, who said management's position was that it sought permanent cost cuts in order to remain profitable through the economic downturn.
The Guild earlier reported that the Commercial Appeal is still discussing an offer by Journal Publishing Co. to take on the E.W. Scripps daily's printing at a proposed new plant near Tupelo for the The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (E&P Online, July 16, 31, 2009).
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