✖ DEKKER ✖

Halifax media recently announced the $143 million acquisition of new newspaper properties. They have deep pockets. They’ve decided to exploit our fellow media professionals in a way that is repulsive, inhuman, and possibly illegal.

Above you will find the section of their new employee contract that relates to non-competition. Essentially they are now forcing taxpayers and charities, in the areas in which Halifax Media operates, to foot the bill for their potential corporate downsizing. How? By locking out any employee of their organization from being able to earn a living for themselves and their families in any field even tangentially related to their chosen profession. Outraged? You should be.

Legal language can be a little dense, so let me break down this contract for you. My notes below the quote.

(d) Non-Competition. During the employee’s employment with the Company and for a period of two years following the termination of the Employee’s employment with the Company at any time, and for any reason, the Employee shall not, on the Employee’s own behalf, or the behalf of others, directly or indirectly, (whether as an Employee, consultant, investor, partner, sole proprietor or otherwise) be employed by, perform any services for, or hold any ownership interest in any business engaged in the business of operating a newspaper or other media business that relies on the sale of advertising (including, without limitation, any business involved in the printing or publication of any newspaper, flyer,shopper, circular or other publication carrying advertising, or any other business, including radio or television broadcasting or cable television, involving the solicitation of advertising for a media business), or any on-line or other business, service, or operation, ancillary or related thereto, that is published or originates in, or any publications (including zoned editions of newspapers) or any products or services of which are substantially directed or marketed to residents of any city town or county in which the Company or its affiliate is doing business, or in which the Company or its affiliate has established plans to do business as of the date of termination of the Employee’s employment with the Company. The above not withstanding, the ownership, for investment purposes, of up to one percent of the total outstanding equity securities of a publicly traded company, shall not be considered a violation of this subparagraph (d).

Translated: If we choose to fire you, for any reason we decide, you can’t do any of the following things to put food on the table for your family in ANY city we own a newspaper, have a sales route, a paperboy dropping off copies, or a satellite office.

• Can’t go to work for the other local newspapers.
• Can’t go to work for the local TV stations.
• Can’t go to work for the local radio stations.
• Can’t go to work for a local printer if they have one client who has coupons or flyers made there.
• Can’t start your own blog, on any topic, and have google adsense on it.
• Can’t blog on another site, even unpaid, if that site has google adsense on it.
• Can’t give your kid $1000 to start his online music magazine as a college graduation present. Something you always dream of giving them.
• Can’t work at the local cable company, even answering phones or giving tech support.
• Can’t deliver phone books
• Can’t work at a restaurant that participates in a local business newsletter.
• Basically can’t do anything even slightly related to any area of expertise you’ve built for yourself.

To put this in terms that people outside of media can fully understand it’s like working as a mechanic at Goodyear, signing a contract that says you can’t do any “business related to cars” for two years if they fire you. You then get fired for spilling some oil. Now they try to sue you for working as an auto parts salesman at Sears three towns away. I’m not  exaggerating… it’s THAT crazy. This will force entire families in small towns onto welfare if the corporation chooses to let the primary wage earner go.

Is Halifax Media paying for school to respecialize their fired workers so they can actually get some kind of a job if they fire them? Absolutely not! This will force entire families to go onto assistance, and that means that this deep-pocketed corporation is thrusting the burden of supporting their ex employees onto YOU the tax payer.

I’m calling for protests and boycotts of all Halifax Media operations. I don’t want to hurt the good people that work for Halifax, so I’m requesting that you all join the cause and ask your labor organizations to get involved too! We need to show support for the employees of Halifax Media against this greedy company’s disgusting policy of starvation economics!

The following is a list of Halifax-owned properties:

• The Gadsden Times in Gadsden, Ala.;
• The Gainesville Sun in Gainesville, Fla.;
• Times-News in Hendersonville, N.C.;
• The Courier in Houma, La.;
• The Ledger in Lakeland, Fla.;
• The Dispatch in Lexington, N.C.;
• Star-Banner in Ocala, Fla.;
• Petaluma Argus-Courier in Petaluma, Calif.;
• The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, Calif.;
• Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Sarasota, Fla.;
• Herald-Journal in Spartanburg, S.C.;
• Daily Comet in Thibodaux, La.;
• The Tuscaloosa News in Tuscaloosa, Ala.;
• Star-News in Wilmington, N.C.;
• News Chief in Winter Haven, Fla.;
• North Bay Business Journal in California.
• Daytona Beach News Journal
• Go386.com
• All Pennysavers at http://www.floridapennysavers.com/
• These events http://www.dbnjshows.com/
• The Complete Phonebook http://daytona411.com/

You can reach Halifax Media directly at:

Michael Redding, 386-265-6840; michael.redding@halifaxmediagroup.com

Lori Catron, 386-265-6830; lori.catron@halifaxmediagroup.com

These non-competes are sometimes not enforced and can often be broken by spending a lot of money on your own lawyer, money most people don’t have. Just the fact that this incredibly heavy-handed  non-compete clause exists and is presented for signature is cause enough to say NO This is not how we, in civilized society, as reasonable people, feel workers should be treated!

To help our efforts in organizing this protest follow me @dekkerdreyer on twitter and email me at dekker (at) dekkerdreyer (d.o.t.) com

In a new feature on this site I’m going to offer you suggestions for how to break the corporate and or government mind control we navigate everyday as sane and rational citizens. I hope this series will help us to maintain that sanity and assert ourselves as individuals.

Today’s Lesson:

REFUSE SELF CHECKOUT

I’m certain you’ve been to large retailers where you see self checkout stands. Never use them! They might look convenient, but in all seriousness they’re just another way to increase profits for large corporations at your expense.

I’m sure you’ve all heard both sides of the old “machines take our jobs” argument, so I won’t go into that. What I will say is that checking out my items ISN’T my job! I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow a major corporate retailer to eek out a few extra dollars a year at my personal expense. I do not work for the retailer or get a discount for choosing to participate in self checkout.

Often at the home depot I’ll be faced with nothing but self checkout and no cashiers on duty. I stand at the front of the store with my items and refuse to move until I can be checked out. Sometimes a sales associate will direct me to self checkout and I ask for a discount on my items for having to work to spend my own money. They look at me like I’m crazy, but I get them to open a register.

By doing this you’ll be a major pain in the ass to the clerk, and frankly they don’t deserve it, but what they don’t see is the big picture. If we all do this from now on it’s going to get back to corporate and they’re going to have to do a risk reward analysis. If people refuse to complete their purchases and ask what time a checkout clerk will be available for them so they can come again this will effect the overall efficiency of their system. To preserve their profits they’ll have to hire more people and take that hit instead of the greater loss of reducing transactions per day.

You have the power to force retailers to create jobs. The 1% doesn’t create jobs, the 99% does. Consumers old all the cards! It’s high time that powerful businesses learn that we control them and not the other way around. This is just one guerrilla tactic in our arsenal to pressure big business into reinvesting in the communities that have supported them.