Why subs matter

Fairfax journos are striking over plans by management to outsource 66 subbing jobs from the regional group (41 from the Newcastle Herald alone) to a sub hub in New Zealand.
There are so many things offensive about this plan, it's hard to know where to start: maybe with some myths that management seems to have about journalists, and subs in particular.
myth 1) subs are cranky shits that get crankier as they get older, and can easily be replaced by 12-year-old graduates on clerical wages.
yes, subs are cranky shits who get crankier as they get older, just like everyone else charged with the responsibility of making sure things are correct, able to be understood by even the thickest readers, and legally unactionable by even the meanest litigants. Subs are like mothers telling teenagers to clean their rooms. Eventually they might clean their rooms. or not. But you can't stop nagging and you keep cleaning  the room anyway. And eventually you become an editor and hire a cleaner (sub) to do it for you.
myth 2) journalists are precious and up themselves
Some journalists are precious and up themselves, just like anyone else with the power to affect change through the written or spoken word. Mostly, the law (and the subs) keep their egos in check. Mostly, they use their powers for good.
myth 3) journalists are resistant to change.
Some journalists are resistant to change, especially when it has no basis in logic or commonsense. However, most journalists operate in an environment of constant change. That's what their stories are about. Change, how communities win or lose, how they cope or don't. Journalists have shown they are willing to learn new tasks, often without enough training, and work harder and faster than they ever have. Journalists everywhere are doing more, with less. And loving it (mostly).
myth 4) Journalists have no idea of the media's dire straits.
Dire Straits was a band around when we did our cadetships, wasn't it?
myth 5) Consultation means telling people what to do, five minutes before they need to do it.
Consultation actually means asking people what they ought to do, with a little bit of lead time.
Fairfax journalists know the state we're in; that's why we're all working faster and harder, and coming up with inventive ways to do more with less. In the Newcastle Herald newsroom, journalists have just been involved in a six-month process to create a New Newsroom, a fully-integrated multi-platform strategy that looks like something a consultant might have dreamed up.
Outsourcing subbing was never on the agenda. So yesterday. So done. So failed.
Maybe you'll hear more about our plan, see it in action even, reap the benefits and rewards of our foresight. Or maybe you'll just get your editing from across the Tasman. Dire strait indeed.