This press below clipping says Quebecor is gertting some life, right at death's door. It's a shame as I hope they go under. These giant printing companies who have bought. sold, liquidated, closed so many other printers deserve to go broke. Quebecor caused the failure of one of the best run printing operations that I worked in. They are a corporate predator and are finally getting their due, karma's a bitch when you screw so many over like that. Hope they go tits up, make room for other decent printing companies who haven't screwed up the business like Quebecor.

Brookfield, Quebecor Inc. announce $400-million rescue plan for printing giant
Ross Marowits, The Canadian Press

January 11, 2008 - 8:08 p.m.

MONTREAL - Struggling commercial printing giant Quebecor World Inc. (TSX:IQW) finally received some good news Friday after its parent company and a Toronto-based fund announced plans to toss it a $400-million financial life-line.

Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.B) and the Tricap Partners private equity fund managed by Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (TSX:BAM.A) said late Friday that they have agreed to help the Montreal-based printing company avert a cash crunch.

However, they also noted the financing is subject to several conditions being met, including the consent of Quebecor World and its banking syndicate.
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JoePostscript -- support administrator

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The problem is, who will buy Quebecor if the go under? Most likely it will be an even bigger predator, RR Donnely. No one else has the wherewithal to purchase a company the size of QWI, even if all they're going to do is sell the pieces.

If they go under, all of the employees of this particular monster flood back into the job market as well, further tightening the competition for positions and driving down salaries.

Regardless of what you think of the company, it wouldn't be good for anyone for them to tank - they've already taken more than a few karmic smacks since the explosive growth of the corporation during the 90's.

Hi James,

I dig the Wally avatar.. Here's an interesting atricle with lots of very inside scoop about Quebecor. You may be right and make some good points. I don't know, think of all the good printers have gone under because of what these gigantic companies have done to the trade. Wow. Did those people flood the market really, most moved to other trades I think. Most of us in printing have other things we know and can do, talented hard working bunch. This isn't like autoworkers or something. Atleast half the people in printing would like to get out.

I say let Quebecor tank. It's survival of the fittest. These printing jobs will find a place to go, same as the employees. I say Bye Bye to the worlds biggest printing company, who never should have been. This is healthy thinning of the weak and bloated, they are dangerous struggling along desperate.

I watched these SOB's buy up competing companies, hire away other's salesmen, drop pricing in niches lower than the paper cost. Literally take the money out of a niche for a couple of years just to watch the competitors die off and go out. Then, raise the prices right back up. These MF's are getting their due. Smaller companies will take on people and jobs to fill the void. They have done damage worldwide to this trade for a long time.

I wouldn't piss on that outfit if they were on fire. Bye Bye Quebecor...

Any Quebecor customers, pull your work while you can and find a company with some integrity, Quebecor is going down. Bankers trying to get in on Quebecor penny stock, buy something with better karma. Quebecor has a trainload of bad karma that could span the globe, buy into that? Haa, like lighting a multi-billion dollar firecracker. Boom, it's gone.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080118.RQUEBECOR18/TPStory/?pageRequested=all

That's just my opinion about it. Reminds me of an old song from Monday night football that I think Don Meredith used to sing. Turn out the lights, the party's over.
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Joe, I agree with the point of your posts, I just don't think that every time someone gets a karmic slap in the jaw it hurts the offender only.

I wouldn't dream of defending the actions of the corp itself, but when it goes down, it won't be all sunshine and roses for the folks who are there working in the trenches. I worked at one of the plants that they bought from World Color at one time, and there are a lot of very talented people who - though more than capable of doing something else - would hate to see their workplace take that final nosedive.

I don't agree with a lot of the things that are done by these mega-corps - gobbling up smaller companies to destroy any competition and then parting them out at auction. I've been down that road, and seeing it destroy the printing business wholesale was unbelievable. I grew up in Dayton, Ohio at a time when there were over two dozen MAJOR printing companies in the city limits. Now there might be two that could be considered to be thriving, if that. I don't live there any more, and that had a lot to do with my move.

Quebecor buying up a phone/video company was a huge mistake, as was expanding beyond their capability to support themselves.

Let's hope someone learned something before there's another round of this.

With the people who do lose their jobs, maybe a group of them will get together and start their own printing company. If they can pool their moneys together, get a salesman and an inside guy, they can find the workers. Now starting a printing company is no easy thing, but the jobs that would have been printed by Quebecor are still in need of printers to do the work.

Sure, if they can spring for the web presses needed to print the magazines, and the finishing equipment to get them out the door.

>> I just don't think that every time someone gets a karmic
>> slap in the jaw it hurts the offender only.

That's true. I see what you are saying. I have worked for a plant completely runied by Quebecor corporate tactics. Out of business. Quebecor got some of that work that was displaced, they were able to raise prices later because they had killed off a medium sized competitor in that niche. To sell printing cheaper than the paper costs is or should be illegal. Some of the folks got a web press, started a new company. Most went to work at other printers. Some got out and followed other professional interests. Printers are a hard working, industrious, talented group of folks and tend to land on their feet.

If Quebecor survives, I just think it's bad for the printing business. Here you have a giant powerful entity, now propped up by bankruptcy laws and corporate welfare. It is still run by crooked predators who haven't changed their stripes. Now, they don't even have to pay their bills. This enables them to run out there continuing to get work from printers who run their affairs correctly, paying bills, satisfying customers. It becomes an unfair competition, a perpetuation of the way they play with a stacked deck.
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I am a relatively new hire at a Quebecor plant that was taken over from world color who bought it from the previous owners and so on.

Corporate douchebaggery aside, the people on the front lines are working very hard to do quality work and make customers happy, most of them are making heroic efforts given what the inwardly directed corporate douchbaggery entails.

The people who are truly screwed are anyone who had IQW stock, or had it in their 401k selections, and anyone eligble for the pension plan.

The corporate problems are usually beyond the scope of what us folks in the trenches can deal with. It's caused by the fact that there is too much emphasis on shareholders. The way it should be is management should focus on keeping the employees happy and productive, the employees then keep the customers happy and the company should be profitable. Shareholders can then decide whether they want to invest in company that makes profit or they don't. They shouldn't get any say what so ever in how the business is run. That's why private/employee owned companies are better to work for, but can't compete with the sell-below-cost and hope we can make it up 5Q later when there's less competition.

Supposedly the underbidding is part of what crashed IQW.

It's just sad that alot of good worker bees are getting the shaft in all this.

In the big companies, its all about the bottom line. It does not matter if everyone is working at peak potential, when the bottom line is not making the big boys happy, they look to make a change to make that figure what they want to see. Its about the money, nothing more to the suits in the big companies, because they always have to answer to someone above them

Who would have thought the mighty are having problems. I think the biggest problem is when a printing company gets to big printers don't run the company. I remember once working for RRD up in NY when the new CEO came down to the plant located in the basement of the building she asked why she could see thru the paper thats when I explained that it was the new paper that we were buying since she took over. She lauged and walked away thinking I was kidding. Now I work for a small family onwed business in florida much happier

Too many things running though my mind to articulate. But to dumb it down, I work for Quebecor. I'm not happy about the prospect of losing my job here, as I've been with the company for 7 years. I'm pretty happy here... potential to move up, decent money, I like my coworkers. The company sucks, but the little guys shouldn't have to pay for their mistakes.

Union wants answers from Quebecor World

OTTAWA, Jan. 25 /CNW Telbec/ - CEP, Canada's largest printing union, is seeking a summit meeting with Quebecor World executives to discuss the company's financial crisis which forced the company to seek creditor protection earlier this week.

"The current financial crisis at Quebecor World is a major concern to all Quebecor World employees, including CEP members and their families, " says Duncan Brown, National Director of CEP Graphical.

"The CEP and our members are committed to the continuing viability of thecompany; but the lack of communication and information has been a problem, thus we are seeking to meet with company executives to discuss the current situation, its implications and the solutions."

"The CEP also supports the call by global union UNI Graphical for a meeting with Quebecor World at the international level as well as the initiative of the European unions to convene a meeting with the company, through the European Works Council."

Commenting on Quebecor World's financial crisis, CEP National President Dave Coles said "Although there may be problems in some markets, overall this appears to be a banking crisis, rather than a business crisis."

"Although CEP is concerned that the company's recent refinancing negotiations collapsed, we view the injection of $1 billion dollars in new financing through Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley with optimism and we are hopeful for the future of Quebecor World."

CEP, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, represents 150,000 Canadian workers in several key parts of the economy, including more than 25,000 newspaper, broadcast, film and printing industry workers.
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That was the only time in my entire life that I was fired. Well, okay, but, your wife leaving you for the tennis pro, that doesn't count, does it ?

Actually, this is a great story. They acquired us 2 weeks before Ringer (we were Standard Gravure, Riverport Imaging and Oklahoma Graphics - under an umbrella group called Shea Communications - I was Director of the prepress division - we made 9 track mag taps and sent Scitex CT/LW files to our plants. Gravure, that was output on the HelioKlischograph (for cylinders) or on our remote Scitex Eray film plotters.

I mean, it was not like I was some dead wood that was overpaid and worthless.

(SAM - NO COMMENT _ I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE - LOL )

Weeks later, actually, what was this - 1995 maybe - 4 Sight Hired me, then Agfa and it was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to me.

I love the waybackmachine site - too bad it does not go back farther, as i have a big FU home page then - i think it had the old adobe photoshop icon (it was an eye) and it blinked - and it then said 'don't blink, they will buy you NEXT....

http://web.archive.org/web/19990501081806/www.jahn.org/JahnBio.html
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Michael Jahn
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1824 North Garvin Avenue
Simi Valley California 93065
Office: (805) 527 8130
Cell: (805) 217 6741
Email: michaelejahn@gmail.com

That's a great point, every problem, setback, or failure carries in it the seed of a greater solution, or success. In my experience with Quebecor's nasty predator tactics I lost probably the best job I ever had. I was working for a guy that tought me alot, stayed out of my way, and let me run my affairs completely. He was a CEO that had worked for Donnely and Treasure Chest and was like no-one else I have ever worked for or will ever work for again.

We were struggling, building, growing and didn't have it all going on, but the progress was unbelievable that were had made. It was a turn around and wow was it turning. It wasn't the paycheck, equipment, stability, it was a mentor relationship and working relationship that made that the best job ever. Good thing was, he landed a bigger job, brought me with him, we made another big splash, so I did get a few more years with him. I never worked more hours and had more stress but was happy as a clam.

I try my best to be a guy like he was to me in how I relate to my staff. I want to lead, not drive. I want to be followed and respected, not hated and simply endured. Wish I could have that good a relationship again with a boss. I have a good job these days and pretty good relationship with my boss but will never enjoy a job like that one. Thanks Quebecor.

I do feel bad for the employees at Quebecor getting caught up. But there are tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of jobs, coveted jobs, in successful companies run over by that Quebecor machine. We were little people too. It's tragic that now, the bad deeds have become the unraveling of Quebecor. My family was uprooted and moved across several states to land a new job. Quebecor has literally changed the lives of so many with n regard to any human being, it's a monster that needs to die, fall.

Maybe you guys should pre-empt the problem and get a new job so that you aren't sitting there fighting for one against a glut of talent hitting the street. I have been through mergers, closings, layoffs, aquisitions, and like Mike have landed on my feet so many times. I moved up here to Ohio from Florida without having a job secured, landed the best job in town for sure, cold turkey. This I know, 2 out of 3 printing companies have prepress problems, that's from GATF survey of managers and a recent test we participated in.

That's why there's always a turn over in prepress management. If you're a good successful prepress manager, there's a company that needs you, in any economy situation. So, it's volatile to keep a job but fertile to find a new one.
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