Racine Journal Times To Lay Off 39, Outsource Printing

RACINE WI — Following the news that the Journal Times would be outsourcing the printing of the newspaper's daily edition to a printing plant in Munster, Indiana comes news of layoffs.

According to a mass-layoff noticed published by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, the Journal Times will be laying off a total of 39 employees.

The layoffs affect packaging associates, press operators, maintenance workers and other personnel that were needed to maintain the newspaper's on-premise printing press. You can read more about exactly who's being laid off on the Department of Workforce Development website.

According to the notice, the expected date of the layoffs is July 14, 2019.

On May 7, the newspaper said they're moving printing production to a printing plant a little more than two hours away in Munster, Indiana that's owned by Lee Enterprises - the company that owns the Journal Times.

In a statement, the paper said "this move will allow the papers to focus resources on generating local content, while ensuring long-term viability of the print product."

A query to Journal Times officials asking what the above statement meant was not returned to Patch at the time of this publication.