Los Angeles Times Employees Go On First Ever Walkout As Layoffs Loom

Los Angeles Times employees are going on a one-day strike Friday to protest looming layoffs that could cut the newsroom by at least 20%, or about 100 journalists.

The walkout is the publication's first union-organized work stoppage in its 142-year history.

What the paper has said

The L.A. Times is facing a widening budget deficit and, according to the paper, its billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong is looking to make cuts while still holding onto the diverse staff members who’ve joined the newsroom over the past few years.

The proposed layoffs would be the largest cuts to staff since the L.A. Times was owned by the Tribune Company from 2000 to 2018, according to the paper.

It would also be the third round of layoffs since June, when more than 70 employees, or about 13% of the newsroom, were cut.

The walkout comes as the newsroom is grappling with executive editor Kevin Merida’s surprise step-down early last week after less than three years on the job.

According to the L.A. Times, Merida resigned over conflicts with Soon-Shiong, specifically about how the magnitude of the proposed layoffs would damage the paper’s progress to become a “sustainable enterprise.”

L.A. Times Guild members gathered at Gloria Molina Grand Park on Friday, Jan. 19.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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What the union has said

The L.A. Times Guild said on social media that management has asked the union to “gut” seniority protections in their contract so they could have “vastly more freedom to pick whom to lay off.”

In a statement to the L.A. Times, the guild’s Black Caucus co-chairs, Erin B. Logan and Erika D. Smith, described the move as management trying to pit colleagues against each other. The guild said in a separate statement it rejects all seniority carve outs.

To protest the proposed layoffs, staff are holding a “Save Local Journalism” rally on Friday in downtown.