Vertis Communications

Grocery store circulars, fashion flyers, furniture and appliance advertisements. One usually thinks of these as smaller parts of a larger whole, like a daily or weekly newspaper. But, for Nicholas Maiale and his crew at Pennsauken, NJ-based Inserts East, these free-standing inserts (FSIs) are shining stars themselves.

Quad/Graphics plans to close a plant in Iowa and another in California this year. Quad/Graphics spokeswoman Claire Ho said Thursday a total of about 200 employees will lose their jobs when the Sussex, WI-based company closes a plant in Marengo, IA, by March and another in Pomona, CA, by June.

Ho says the plant closures are the result of integrating Vertis Holdings, which Quad/Graphics acquired last year.

Even after its third bankruptcy and subsequent takeover by Quad, Vertis continues as the model of margin compression and value destruction we all wish would go away. It has a ghost of the past, a ghost of the present, and it’s sure to have a ghost of the future.

The former Vertis workers who were let go after their Fort Erie plant was not included in the sale to Quad/Graphics may have ended their picketing, but they're still battling to secure at least part of the C$2.7 million they say is owed to them, the Niagara Bullet News reported.

PENNSAUKEN, NJ—With many of its competitors either shedding jobs or shuttering their shops completely, Inserts East finds itself in a unique and advantageous position as a printer on the rise.

STEVENSVILLE, ONTARIO—The former Vertis workers who were let go after their Fort Erie plant was not included in the sale to Quad/Graphics may have ended their picketing, but they're still battling to secure at least part of the C$2.7 million they say is owed to them, the Niagara Bullet News reported.

SUSSEX, WI—Quad/Graphics Inc. has reported results for its first quarter ending March 31. The reported results include Vertis from the day of acquisition on Jan. 16. With the exception of certain debt ratios, prior year financial results do not include the acquisition of Vertis.

Quad/Graphics Inc. has reported results for its first quarter ending March 31, 2013. The reported results include Vertis from the day of acquisition on January 16, 2013. With the exception of certain debt ratios, prior year financial results do not include the acquisition of Vertis.

Former Vertis Communications employees denied severance when they were summarily terminated earlier this year have called a halt to picketing outside the plant gates of the Eagle Street facility.

But they haven’t given up the fight to get at least some of the $2.7 million they say is owed to them.

In an attempt to put pressure on the company to pay them what they believed they were owed, the employees set up an information picket outside the plant gates, where they held vigil everyday, even when temperatures dipped well below zero.

A dispute between former employees of Vertis Communications in Stevensville (Ontario, Canada) and Quad/Graphics Marketing will most likely be resolved in a courtroom and not on the picket line. And, it will likely take some time before all the legal issues are ironed out.

More than 100 workers at the Eagle St. printing plant found themselves out of work in January when their jobs were terminated without severance pay.

The plant has been closed, but the equipment has been purchased by Quad/Graphics, which is in the process of having it removed and taken to another location.