2 Hours Off... with Pay

[sinklair]

2020 has been rough... working in a pandemic, a brutal election, a dam collapse, having to put up with incompetent managers at 25-66... the list goes on.

Now our corporate overlords at Sinclair want to show how much our work and sacrifice has meant to them. So they are giving us... (drum roll)... two hours off with pay (rim shot and lackluster applause).

I guess two hours off with pay is better than forcing us to watch the 1970s live van training video again... however, what the hell am I supposed to do with two hours?

As it is, my colleagues and I are already working hours before and after we click in unpaid to set up stories, meet our social media requirements, and the other hours of BS put upon us daily by the In Over Her Head News Director. It’s not like if I come in two hours later that my story will be set up.. or shot... or edited... or uploaded to the website. So it’ll end up to be just another day where you can’t physically accomplish everything you’re being asked to do.

Not that Neille-Ann and her “Master Degree” from Cracker Jack University will care since she can’t be bothered to come out of her office to gauge the stress from the news team.

Many of us have been working nonstop for 8 months. A former news Director of mine gave his team a week of with pay to say thanks and understand that we all needed a break and to take care of our families who are also struggling with distance learning, etc.

Another poor attempt at “employee morale”, Sinclair. Maybe we can get a grilled cheese sandwich with our two hours off. I work for a bunch of idiots with zero self awareness.

[YpsiGuy]

Sinclair sucks.

[audiophile]

It seems funny someone would complain about this. 2 hours to come to an annual Christmas party?

[sinklair]

While Sinclair is giving us 2 hours off with pay, across town at Gray's WJRT, employees are getting a real bonus... a 3% pay increase.

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2020/ ... up-bonuses

We've made a lot of sacrifices over the past year and we get a lousy 2 hours off. The Corporate Death Star and the Shipped in from Out of Town New GM will get their bonuses for controlling costs while we've seen pay and hiring freezes over the past year and had to do much more with less during a pandemic.

Sinclair sucks.

[Martin Stett]

Attention Hudsucker employees.
We regretfully announce that at
12:01 this afternoon, Hudsucker
time, Waring Hudsucker, Founder,
President, and Chairman of the
Board of Hudsucker Industries,
merged with the infinite. To mark
this occasion of corporate loss,
we ask that all employees observe
a moment of silent contemplation.

... Thank you for your kind
attention. This moment has been
duly-noted on your time cards and
will be deducted from your pay.
That is all.

[sinklair]

Let’s be clear: Sinclair Broadcasting is profitable. It just took in hundreds of millions of dollars in political advertising. While COVID has hurt local advertising, all it did was cut into profit margins. Most years, Sinclair stations run at a 25-30 percent profit margin — with top performing stations running at a 70-percent profit margin. This year, that number is down, largely because of the ill-advised purchase of Fox regional sports networks from Disney. But if the company has enough cash to buy RSNs, they have enough for bonuses for broadcasters who they have labeled as essential workers and placing their health at risk by covering this pandemic. If David Smith, Chris Ripley, and local GMs are poised to get their bonuses for cutting expenses, then Sinclair should follow the lead of other broadcasters like Gray to reward front-line workers.

[Bdl]

While Sinclair is giving us 2 hours off with pay, across town at Gray's WJRT, employees are getting a real bonus... a 3% pay increase.

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2020/ ... up-bonuses

We've made a lot of sacrifices over the past year and we get a lousy 2 hours off. The Corporate Death Star and the Shipped in from Out of Town New GM will get their bonuses for controlling costs while we've seen pay and hiring freezes over the past year and had to do much more with less during a pandemic.

Sinclair sucks.

Apply for a job over at 12. It's that easy. You provide a service (work) and they give you money (paycheck). They don't need to be your pal, your bud, your reason for being. You get that elsewhere.

[sinklair]

Bdl: it’s not that easy. Sinclair has contracts and non-competes that prevent us from applying at 5 or 12.

Plus if you try to break the contract, they go after you for thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars, in “liquidated damages” plus attorney fees. Which isn’t possible if you’re making barely above minimum wage.

We’re not asking for station managers to be our “buds”... we just want them to do their damned jobs and create a TV station that is producing quality newscasts. These are the job expectations management has of us but they don’t hold themselves up to the same standards.

Much like your post, 25-66 managers would love for us to shut up and roll over but it’s never going to happen.

[Bdl]

Bdl: it’s not that easy. Sinclair has contracts and non-competes that prevent us from applying at 5 or 12.

Plus if you try to break the contract, they go after you for thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars, in “liquidated damages” plus attorney fees. Which isn’t possible if you’re making barely above minimum wage.

We’re not asking for station managers to be our “buds”... we just want them to do their damned jobs and create a TV station that is producing quality newscasts. These are the job expectations management has of us but they don’t hold themselves up to the same standards.

Much like your post, 25-66 managers would love for us to shut up and roll over but it’s never going to happen.

I've worked in a few dumps. I did not stay. Life is too short to be miserable.

[Dudley]

We hear you PAM!

[MasterB]

You anchor a newscast from time to time Sinklair at 25/66?

[Dudley]

Just pisses and moans a LOT!

[sinklair]

So criticizing your employer makes me a pisser and moaner? Dudley, sounds like you’d be perfect 25-66 management!

[Dudley]

Who says I'm not! I could be , I might be. I know your an asshole!

[YpsiGuy]

Bdl: it’s not that easy. Sinclair has contracts and non-competes that prevent us from applying at 5 or 12.

Plus if you try to break the contract, they go after you for thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars, in “liquidated damages” plus attorney fees. Which isn’t possible if you’re making barely above minimum wage.

We’re not asking for station managers to be our “buds”... we just want them to do their damned jobs and create a TV station that is producing quality newscasts. These are the job expectations management has of us but they don’t hold themselves up to the same standards.

Much like your post, 25-66 managers would love for us to shut up and roll over but it’s never going to happen.

It’s impossible for Sinclair to produce a high quality local newscast. Too much corporate propaganda is embedded into them.