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Here are all the people who left Postmedia this summer

In June, Postmedia announced a restructuring plan that included 10 per cent cut in salary expenses. Continue Reading Here are all the people who left Postmedia this summer

There has been a steady stream of departures from Postmedia over the summer months.

In late June, the company announced that it was going to cut its salary expenses by approximately 10 per cent through voluntary buyouts and layoffs by the end of August. “We are doing this so that those who find the pace of change and dramatic transformation difficult can choose to leave the organization,” wrote Paul Godfrey, executive chairman and CEO, and Andrew MacLeod, president and chief operating officer, in a memo that was sent to staff on June 26.

The cuts were part of a restructuring that saw six newspapers closed and four papers shutter their print publications.

Phyllise Gelfand, Postmedia’s spokesperson, told J-Source that there had been a “number of departures” through their voluntary buyout program, but they had no specific numbers of people who had taken them at this time.

Martin O’Hanlon, the president of CWA Canada, a union which represent a number of Postmedia newsrooms including the Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette and the Regina Leader-Post, said in an email to J-Source that there was a “relatively small” number of departures through the voluntary buyout program. There were a total of four people whose buyouts were accepted at the Ottawa Citizen.

At Unifor Local 2000, which represents workers at the Vancouver Sun and The Province, 12 people were accepted for buyouts according to local president Brian Gibson. (All but one have already left the company and another employee resigned). “The percentage cut in staff at PNG (Pacific Newspaper Group, publishers of the Vancouver Sun and Province) is about 7.5 per cent,” he added. At the Windsor Star, there were five buyouts approved among Unifor Local 240 members, and two approved for management. Another member retired, according to local chairperson Julie Kotsis.

Some employees were not approved for buyouts, including four in Winnipeg. O’Hanlon said at the Ottawa Citizen, two buyouts were not approved because the staffing levels were too low. There have been no reported layoffs according to CWA Canada and Unifor representatives contacted by J-Source.

Among the staffers who left Postmedia over the summer, via buyouts, retirements and other job offers, are award-winning journalists and those who have over 30 years of experience in the industry.

We will continue to update this post as more information becomes available. To add a name to the list, please contact J-Source’s managing editor H.G. Watson at hgwatson@j-source.ca.

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H.G. Watson

H.G. Watson was J-Source's managing editor from 2015 to 2018. She is a journalist based in Toronto. You can learn more about her at hgwatson.com.

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