Tribune Hiring

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:46 pm

To act as a custodian for the Chicago Tribune with responsibility for performing routine manual labor associated with the daily maintenance and cleaning of Freedom Center. RESPONSIBILITIES: To clean and sanitize restrooms, refill soap and paper supplies. To keep premises of office building clean, empties waste baskets, and dusts furniture. To clean windows, mirrors, and other glass surfaces of building interior and exterior. To strip, scrub, and wax interior floors with the use of power equipment, mops and buckets. To operate vacuum cleaner and other powered equipment to vacuum and clean carpeting. To set up tables and chairs in meeting rooms and also moves office furniture, as directed. Picks up recyclable scrap for salvage, picks up refuse from plant grounds, and empties trash and garbage containers. To climb ladders, scaffolds or uses a power man-lift to clean lint, dust, oil, air vents, duct work, and grease from machinery, overhead pipes and conveyors, using brushes, air hoses, or steam cleaners. To clean and polish lighting fixtures and trim. Re-lamps light fixtures in all areas. The use of power equipment or hand tools to water grass and shovel snow. To report equipment and facilities in need of repair. To perform other work applicable to the custodial department deemed necessary and assigned by your supervisor. When other duties are complete, trim copy and write headlines. (Tribune)

*** Sorry. Just kidding. ***

Wayne Countryman · **Posted:** Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:46 pm

A non-union custodial job might be the most secure at a Tribune paper.

The two Tribune papers for which I worked took cleaning very seriously, particularly the first:
The cleaning staff would launch into the copy desks 9:30 to 10 p.m. with extremely loud vacuum cleaners. If you didn't slide back from your desk fast enough, the nozzle would whack your chair until you did.
This didn't change until we convinced the powers that be that we were missing deadline because of the disruption.

As for "re-lamping": The lighting at the paper was so bright that it caused eyestrain. So, we'd remove and hide some of the fluorescent tubes. The next day, they'd be replaced and we'd be scolded. Never won on that.

The obsession with cleanliness would peak when the Chicago executives were to visit. Desks were to be bare of all items except for phones; bosses would come through and toss anything else into rolling waste bins. Reporters sometimes lose important notes that way.

Of course, this will probably change along with other priorities now that the staffs "own" the papers.

onceahack · **Posted:** Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:58 pm

And it has at least one attribute in common with that dream job at Poynter:

Relocation Covered: No

Nessie3 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 01, 2008 3:23 am

What, no pagination?

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:41 am

Don't worry. You can teach a janitor how to paginate in about half a day.

Bumfketeer · **Posted:** Fri Feb 01, 2008 2:48 pm

Our janitors are in the Guild and are well-paid ($763/wk). I guess I now know they do a lot more than empty trash cans. Not everyone can operate a power lawn watering device, you know.

longwords · **Posted:** Sat Feb 02, 2008 4:56 pm

Great. Your janitors earn more than I do. So much for the highly touted benefits of a college education.

Bumfketeer · **Posted:** Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:01 pm

I kind of figured that was coming.

Bot and Hothered · **Posted:** Fri Feb 08, 2008 11:16 pm

As long as I don't have to write captions for dopey standalone day photos.

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