Arm Waving on a Slow News Day at Florida Today
Rumor control: No layoffs at USA, Florida Today
Editor’s note: According to ace Florida Today reporter Todd Halvorsen on his new space blog “The independent web site NASA Watch trotted out a scary headline Tuesday: “USA Layoffs Are About To Begin.” The item inferred the company, which employs about 10,000 people, including 6,500 at Kennedy Space Center, was on the verge of pink-slipping employees, and that they would be sent packing without severance pay.”
Gee Todd, let’s read my post a little more carefully, OK? And wouldn’t it be useful for your readers to have a link to the actual post you are referring to – and not have them rely only on what you want them to think I wrote? Here is a pertinent excerpt:
Editor’s update:Florida Today finally relented and linked back to my original post on NASA Watch – thanks in great part to comments made by Rand Simberg.
“Yesterday United Space Alliance held an informational meeting in Houston to advise employees that their tasks were no longer deemed necessary. As a result, USA would soon be eliminating those tasks from the current contract with NASA.”
“Houston” Todd. Is that where the Kennedy Space Center is? Do you see the word “Florida” in there? I don’t need to “infer” anything, Todd. If I had meant to say KSC – and that 10,000 people were affected, I would have said so. Face it: the meeting happened with some employees at USA in Houston. If it was an all hands meeting – there – or anywhere else, I would have said so. I did not. When USA asked to respond, I let them – and posted their reply – verbatim. As for the severance pay issue, I am repeating what people who are directly affected told me, Todd. Why not check this out for yourself? Note that USA’s spokesman Jeff Carr did not deny that such a meeting happened – nor did he deny that people’s jobs were being eliminated. Nor did he guarantee that they would not be laid off.
Are you really this lazy – and hard up – for news that you try and make it up – using NASA Watch (of all things) as the topic?
P.S. When are you going to admit that this article on NASAspaceflight.com scooped you – and everyone else – on STS-121 issues – as everyone else has already noted?
