SaultOnline has learned of major job cuts at the Sault Star announced this morning.
According to an employee close to the situation, 23 local positions have been cut in the press room and mailing room.
As of the end of the month, the local newspaper will now be printed in North Bay and shipped back to the Sault for delivery to homes and newsstands.
Elaine Della-Mattia, president of Local 746 of Communications Workers of America (CWA) confirmed the news to Sault Online. Della-Mattia tells Saultonline.com that three of her members in the mail room have been cut, while the pressmen represented by Unicor were all let go.
“I’m not sure how this company will get the final product to doorsteps and mailboxes on the same day. The north faces brutal winters and highway closures that, in my view, could have a dramatic impact on when or how the newspaper is delivered. It’s unfortunate that this company doesn’t see these potential obstacles and continues to slash community papers instead of making investments in the product that our readers deserve.” Della-Mattia said.
There hasn’t been a statement issued by the union representing the Press Room employees as of yet where the bulk of the cuts were made.
The presses will be shut down May 30 at which time production will be moving out of the city. The newspaper will be pressed in North Bay and the flyer inserts will be handled out of London.
Ultimately, 7 pressmen (represented by Unifor), three mailers represented by CWA-local 746, about 12 other part-time mailer, one production manager and one IT non-unionized employee were given their layoff notices early Wednesday morning.
The recent cuts followed a round of cuts announced in December that saw management and reporter positions lost.
You know Craig I admire your stories, you tell it exactly as it is with out all the sugar and spice. Your exactly right it is to bad. It’s the loss of local dependable news, the pride of a cities own news print, and most of all the loss of Yet again more local jobs that the city could not afford to loose.
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