After daily newspaper Ha’aretz announced earlier this week it would be laying off workers, it was the turn of Yediot Aharonot, which said Wednesday that it would downsize by about 150 workers. Those to be laid off will be mostly in distribution, but the next round of layoffs will be in management, newspaper management said.

A report in business daily Globes said that in order to save money, the newspaper had decided to outsource distribution to an independent subsidiary. Most of the distribution workers are employed as contract workers, meaning that Yediot can basically fire them at will, without paying them compensation or other benefits usually given to regular employees. The workers have asked the Histadrut labor union for assistance in remaining on the job.

According to the report, the workers were informed several weeks ago of the plan to replace them. The workers have banded together to present an alternative plan to Yediot management, claiming that they will be able to do the distribution for less than the subsidiary. Although they are not official employees, many of the workers have been with the newspaper for decades, and most are in their 50s, meaning that they will have a very difficult time finding alternative employment.