Revised Vacation Order Has Union-Tribune Employees Scrambling

At the beginning of the year, a memo went out to employees of the San Diego Union-Tribune, instructing those who had accumulated a large amount of vacation days that they should start taking some, so as to eventually whittle down the buffer to a maximum of five weeks. Then, another memo asked that they lock in this action by April.

According to San Diego Reader reporter Don Bauder, this, along with news of employee pension checks being issued by a different bank, has employees rushing to take those vacation days. He also notes how hard it is to predict what the newspaper’s owner, Platinum Equity, might do next:

Platinum is run by Tom Gores, who is worth a reported $2.2 billion. A similar company, Gores Group, is run by his brother Alec, who is worth $1.6 billion… The brothers failed in a joint attempt to buy Miramax and Platinum failed trying to buy the Boston Globe and Business Week Magazine.

Bauer wonders what might happen to the Union-Tribune if brother Alec is successful in a bid for Freedom Communications, owner of the Orange County Register. A consolidation perhaps? It’s definitely enough to make a Union-Tribune employee want to take a five-week vacation, ASAP.

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.