Chicago Sun-Times newsroom union accepts 9 percent pay cut


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Posted by chicagomedia.org on May 06, 2009 at 07:15:46:

In Reply to: Sun-Times newsroom union members to vote on proposed wage cuts posted by chicagomedia.org on May 06, 2009 at 07:13:29:

Chicago Sun-Times newsroom union accepts 9 percent pay cut

Chicago Sun-Times newsroom employees represented by the Newspaper Guild voted Tuesday night to accept a temporary 9 percent pay cut and other proposals, as parent Sun-Times Media Group operates under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and seeks a buyer.

Eighty-five percent of those voting approved acceptance of the negotiated concessions, a union official said. The vote total was 52 to 9.

In addition to the 9 percent pay cut, the reduction package accepted by reporters, editors and photographers at the flagship Sun-Times includes retention of severance pay but at post-concession wage levels. Employees will have five unpaid days off by the end of July. The Guild receives a credit toward the 15 percent target for the company not making pension contributions for the first half of 2009.

A scheduled 2 percent wage increase for Guild members, plus an increase in company contribution toward health care, remains set for Sept. 30.

The union concessions are to last only one year, but would end immediately if the company is sold, if there is a filing in bankruptcy court to reject the collective bargaining agreement or if the company strings together two consecutive profitable quarters. Also included is a "me too" clause that would give the Sun-Times unit adjusted terms should any other union negotiate more favorable terms.

Sun-Times Media, parent of the Sun-Times and dozens of other area publications and Web sites, has said it needs to reduce its overall compensation costs by 15 percent. With non-union employees, the company already made the reductions through layoffs, elimination of severance pay, furloughs and other reductions.

The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in March because it faced a looming U.S. tax bill alleged to be more than $600 million, a legacy of the company's operation under now-imprisoned global press lord Conrad Black.

(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)


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