Big changes at the newspaper I work for were in the works Monday. 

The copy desks for all of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group (which includes, among other papers, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the San Bernardino Sun and the Los Angeles Daily News) are merging and moving to the Tribune's West Covina office. 

Actually, they've already done it.

Bosses say the merge won't result in any layoffs, though to tell you the truth, no one seems to believe that line. 

Several of the copy editors I've talked to are just waiting for the guillotine to come down at some point. Their take: Once everyone gets comfortable in their positions, and the bosses figure out this universal copydesk can accomplish more with less, they'll take advantage of the situation. 

Typical industry speculation, and can you blame them?

Seriously though, despite what you believe, the merge WILL mean earlier deadlines for all of the LANG newsrooms to help ease the transition. It's interesting, because this notion of deadlines for the print product always brings a question to my mind: Why don't we ever focus on deadlines for our online edition? If we're moving in that direction, why don't we have an online organizational budget and then just worry about the print product after all is said and done? Do we really have to wait until all the stories are read and on the page to put their complete versions online?

Just one more frustration to add my to my list, titled: "Grievances from Employee #4323"