Buffalo News Management spent about two hours Thursday talking with CWA and The Newspaper Guild leaders in Washington, D.C.
Human Resources Vice President Dan Farberman, President Warren Colville and Executive Vice President reiterated the financial difficulties facing The News, as well as the desire to work with the Guild to mitigate losses.
Bernie Lunzer, president of The Newspaper Guild, responded by expressing concerns that The News should take steps to reassure its employees that the company has a future. He argued that The News and others in the industry seem to be “in a premature rush to declare print dead.”
Dan Farberman, the News’ vice president for human resources, responded by saying, “We’re not ready to schedule a funeral for print.” He also said The News is not prepared to move forward with a cost-cutting measure similar to the Detroit Free Press, which ceased delivering the paper to home subscribers every day.
Lunzer reiterated to News Management that it’s important to seek active participation from its own employees to find cost-cutting solutions. He also said The News needs to reinvestment in employee retraining to make its existing employees more productive and tailored to the company’s future needs.
Buffalo Newspaper Guild CWA Local 31026 