Register-Guard Employees Face Uncertain Future in Sale

BlogNews by Bob KeeferPosted on
The memo from GateHouse

The news is chilling for our colleagues at The Register-Guard following the announced sale of the newspaper to GateHouse Media as of March 1. A notice that went up in the RG employee lunchroom says existing employees may or may not receive an offer of employment from GateHouse, which is buying only the assets of the family-owned business. “If you do receive such an offer, please review it carefully, because the offer will be for a job with very different terms and conditions than those under which you currently work,” the notice says. Our guess is that “very different” doesn’t mean “better.”

Rumor has it that RG workers get to apply for their old jobs in interviews Feb. 12-14; those who don’t make the cut will be gone by the end of the month.

We wish everyone on Chad Drive the very best of luck.

Here’s the complete text of the memo:

Notice to All Employees — A Change in Working Conditions

As was announced, a subsidiary of GateHouse Media entered into an agreement to purchase substantially all the assets of Guard Publishing Company. You may receive an offer of employment from GateHouse, contingent on a successful closing of the sale. Such offer will be on terms and conditions that will be different going forward than what they are today. If you do receive such an offer, please review it carefully, because the offer will be for a job with very different terms and conditions than those under which you currently work.

Some differences include but are not limited to:

  • The normal work week
  • Overtime (weekly not daily)
  • Benefit plans and designs
  • Employee contribution rates for various benefits
  • Wage rates (ex: for new employees)
  • Subcontracting of work (ex: news and advertising operations)
  • Managers performing work as needed
  • Schedule changes
  • Severance
  • Process for future reductions in force
  • Part time hours and benefits
  • Policies and procedures as outlined in the GateHouse Employee and Newsroom Handbooks

Eugene Weekly Arts Editor Bob Keefer worked as a reporter at The Register-Guard for 30 years before retiring from the paper in 2013.