Latest bloodletting* at San Jose Mercury News a call to action for remaining staff

*31 Laid Off at Mercury News; 15 Others Leaving (second item)

"We want to be partners in the growth of the Mercury News and mercurynews.com. We don’t want to be a part in the dismantling of a newspaper that has served Northern California for more than 150 years."

A group of Mercury News employees supported by the San Jose Newspaper Guild launched Save the Merc to raise awareness and garner community support in an effort to preserve the paper's quality journalism and civic commitment to the community.

They are urging their supporters to make mercurynews.com their home page, sign up for its email newsletters and tell SJMN where it's coverage is lacking.

This is a clear example of the benefit of being union. The union cannot dictate to the employer the size of the staff needed to publish it's papers, but union members can and do use their union's resources to enlist community support when the cuts go to the bone. An involved community certainly has the power to hold the company accountable for the service it provides. And with an almost skeletal workforce at SJMN, how will it be possible to properly serve the community?