Los Angeles Times to lay off one-fourth of newsroom staff starting this week, union head says

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Times plans to lay off 94 newsroom employees — one-fourth of its newsroom staff — starting Tuesday, a number that is substantial but less than feared, the head of the journalists union said.

The announcement comes after the LA Times Guild walked off the job last Friday to protest the imminent layoffs, the first newsroom union work stoppage in the newspaper’s 143-year history.

Matt Pearce, president of the Media Guild of the West, which encompasses the Times' union, called it a “dark day.” He said the layoffs represent one-fourth of the Times Guild's entire membership.

“Many departments and clusters across the newsroom will be heavily hit,” Pearce said in a statement Tuesday. “This total, while devastating, is nonetheless far lower than the number of layoffs the Bargaining Committee was expecting last week.”