Post Guild

Guild Leadership Writes Letter to Post Publisher Expressing Disapointment Over Nearly $500,000 Bonus and 10% Raise

Posted on May 21st, 2010 by postguild

April 19, 2010

Katharine Weymouth

Publisher

The Washington Post

1150 15th Street

Washington, D.C. 20071

Dear Ms. Weymouth,

As employees of the Washington Post and members of the Newspaper Guild, we were disappointed to hear that you accepted a bonus of nearly $500,000 at a time when the sacrifices made by so many people who work here — or used to work here — are still fresh.

It was also surprising to learn that you received a 10-percent raise, and that many other top executives were also handsomely rewarded, despite a year that included further job reductions, the closure of the Post’s national bureaus and, for the first time in memory, staff layoffs. This is to say nothing of the highly publicized missteps that called into question the Post’s reputation for journalistic excellence.

If you were to walk the floor of the advertising department or the newsroom today, you would find vacant desks, darkened computers, and a number of workers who are doing more with less. Their efforts still ensure that Post customers remain satisfied. Their efforts win Pulitzer Prizes. Yet few, if any, of these workers have received a bonus, let alone a raise that has kept up with rising costs of living in the Washington metropolitan area.

We recognize that you work hard for this company and that you cherish the legacy that has been entrusted with you as a member of the family that built the Post into one of America’s finest newspapers. We do not begrudge the fruits of hard work to you or anyone else in the Post’s leadership.

We do hope, however, that in the future you will be generous to all the people who write the stories, shoot the video, sell the ads or deliver the newspaper online or in print to millions of readers.

Yours Truly,

Freddy Kunkle & Darlene Meyer

Co-Chairs

The Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild

From the Guild Bulletin: Why We Wrote the Letter

“When members of the Guild opened The Washington Post on March 26, they were stunned to read that Katharine Weymouth, the Post’s publisher, had elected to accept a 10-percent raise and a nearly $500,000 bonus while many were still smarting from the downsizing the company has gone through. Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that The Washington Post Company had set aside $127.9 million in bonuses to reward its top managers in 2009; it actually awarded $16.2 million to 75 executives, including Weymouth. This is in addition to awards of Post stock and other compensation.

It seemed jarring to many employees that Weymouth and other top executives would be so generously rewarded at a time when hard times have forced the Post to go through four rounds of early-retirement buyouts, close Book World, merge other news sections and shutter its national bureaus. (The same story reported that her uncle, Don Graham, had declined to take a similar reward, a practice he has followed for 19 consecutive years.) Although the Guild negotiated lump sum payments as part of its most recent contract, the last time Guild members received a contractual raise it was $10.50 per week. And that was in May, 2008.

Several reporters and others approached Guild officers to say that they were outraged. On behalf of its members, the Guild has spoken up. In a letter to Weymouth, co-chairs Freddy Kunkle and Darlene Meyer expressed the dismay felt by Guild members over the bonus. The letter, however, also made clear that the Guild was not interested in depriving members of the Post’s family from enjoying the wealth of a legendary enterprise — but were interested in seeing that the company’s leaders also share it.”