Nonunion (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) workers to take furlough (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | January 31, 2009 | Tim Logan

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The Post-Dispatch said Friday that it will require all nonunion employees to take a week off without pay in the next two months, as parent company Lee Enterprises tries to cut costs and renegotiate $306 million in debt that's coming due.

The news came as Lee announced a third extension of a waiver granted by its lenders on the debt — until Friday. The company has been in technical default since Dec. 31 because auditors do not think it can make a $142.5 million payment due in April. The company continues talking with lenders on a plan to restructure the debt, which the Davenport, Iowa-based publisher took over when it bought Pulitzer Inc. in 2005.

The weeklong furloughs are taking place at several Lee papers, a company spokesman said. At the Post-Dispatch, they will affect about 300 nonrepresented employees. The company also suspended merit raises and the company match to 401(k) contributions for those people. About 700 Post-Dispatch employees work under union contracts, and the paper said it will "ask union leaders for their support" to include those workers in the furloughs, too.

Shannon Duffy, business representative at the paper's largest union, the St. Louis Newspaper Guild Local 36047, said he was told of the furloughs Friday but said any decision would require a vote by union members.

Several other newspaper companies, including the industry's largest, Gannett Inc., have announced furloughs in recent weeks as they wrestle with slumping revenue.

tlogan@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8291

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Monday morning good news.

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ping

[Dr. Ursus]

They can do some community organizing!

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/business/media/02carr.html?ref=media
When Even Condé Nast Is in Retreat

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/magazines-newspapers/e3i3b5ee64b200b60e14bf57739a2ae5d10
Verified on The Rise
In tough climate, titles’ hike free public-place copies

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2009/02/california_or_business.php
‘California’ or ‘Business?’

[abb]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/edward-wasserman/story/883567.html
`The kindness of strangers can be harmful’

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02022009/business/pension_tension_153124.htm
PENSION TENSION
GRAY LADY’S $625M DEFICIT ADDS TO PUBLISHER’S WOES

[Clintons Are White Trash]

Oh Darn! The St. Louis Post Disgrace is in trouble - what will we do without that democrat shill rag???

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http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/163019-COVER_STORY_Digging_for_Dollars.php
COVER STORY: Digging for Dollars
Local TV stations get creative to make up for lack of automotive bucks and a generally downbeat economy

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/163050-Q1_Earnings_Results_Could_Mean_Gloomy_Upfronts.php
Q1 Earnings Results Could Mean Gloomy Upfronts
Disney, Time Warner, News Corp. on tap to report earnings this week

[abb]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/opinion/stephen-glover/stephen-glover-why-all-newspapers-need-faithful-and-benevolent-guardians-1522829.html
Stephen Glover: Why all newspapers need faithful and benevolent guardians

http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/
Why newspapers can’t stop the presses

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http://www.niemanlab.org/
Could shrinking the post office help newspapers?

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20090131_Rendell_tried_to_help_Phila__papers.html
Rendell tried to help Phila. papers

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090130/FREE/901309987/1078#seenit
Despite growth of new media, media sector overall shedding value

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999381.html?categoryid=2522&cs=1
The gig is up for some industry execs
Layoffs leave many doing career U-turns

[bert]

Blatant discrimination. The union contract s hould be void in such a situation. The company should be sued to achieve equality.

[abb]

No matter. The entire company - Lee Enterprises (LEE) - won’t be around much longer anyway.

[bert]

Conde Nast is a nest of effete snobs. They are responsible for Euro envy.

[martin_fierro]

The Post-Dispatch said Friday that it will require all nonunion employees to take a week off without pay in the next two months, as parent company Lee Enterprises tries to cut costs and renegotiate $306 million in debt that's coming due.

"Fire 'em all! And find me Parker!!"

[Condor51]

The Post-Dispatch said Friday that it will require all nonunion employees to take a week off without pay ...

Lawsuit!

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http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003936927
Sale of Blethen Media Moves Forward

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003936923
Forget Groundhog Day — It’s “National Buy a Newspaper Day.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/managementIssues/idUSN2928163920090130
News Corp investors brace for writedowns, job cuts

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

From the “Kindness of Strangers” article:

“And for their employer? Here the code is silent, so I can’t say The Times broke its own rules by accepting $250 million last month from Carlos Slim, the Mexican multibillionaire who Fortune magazine figures is the richest person on Earth. But that’s the best I can say for it.

“Slim already invested $120 million in September — half of which vanished as the paper’s financial condition worsened. Under terms of his latest outlay, he could end up the company’s largest shareholder.

“True, he wouldn’t sit on The Times board and would have no voting power; only members of the Sulzberger family own voting shares.

“Maybe that’s why other media have treated this largely as a footnote to the widening crisis that is swallowing the newspaper industry. It’s more than that, it’s a profoundly troubling action that raises serious doubt not just about whether the Sulzbergers will keep control of The Times, but whether they should.

“Should The Times really be deepening its dependency on this man? Not to get too moralistic, but at some level a great newspaper stands for something — principles of social justice, popular sovereignty, open government, fair competition.

“Slim is a predatory capitalist who built a $67 billion empire — worth a stunning 7 percent of Mexico’s gross domestic product — through political cronyism, cunning and the relentless use of monopoly power, which means charging much, delivering less and crippling competitors, real and potential.”

Schaudenfreude!