The News Media Guild is calling it “Black Tuesday at AP.” The union says it has received official notice from the Associated Press that 57 employees got termination notices on Tuesday (11/17).
The AP had previously said it planned to cut its payroll by 10% by the end of 2009, so the layoffs were not a surprise.
"This is a very sad day for our AP colleagues and the public who relies on their important news work," said Tony Winton, News Media Guild President in a statement on the union’s website. "We will be following up on all terminations to make sure that all benefits are paid and that seniority rules were applied properly," he said.
The Guild said it received notice from the news cooperative late Tuesday that 57 employees covered by its contract had been laid off. The list included 33 newspersons, 19 editorial assistants and five photographers.
According to the union, this is the biggest layoff by the AP since 2006, when 100 technology workers were pink-slipped.
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