Star Tribune, Newspaper Guild reach tentative contract agreement with cuts

Star Tribune, union reach tentative agreement

MINNEAPOLIS — A tentative three-year contract agreement has been reached between the Star Tribune and the union representing nearly 275 newsroom workers.

The agreement reached by leaders of the Newspaper Guild, the largest union at the newspaper, includes a 3 percent cut in base wage scales and a 30 percent reduction in any merit pay above those scales. It also calls for two days of unpaid furlough in each of the next two years, a freeze in some pensions and a reduction in severance.

The tentative deal leaves the company with one remaining major union contract to resolve, covering the company’s drivers. The newspaper earlier reached deals with various unions representing pressmen, mailers and typographical workers.

The newspaper wants to cut union labor costs by $20 million a year as it works to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York. It filed for protection from its creditors on Jan. 15 as the declining advertising market put pressure on the heavy debt burden the newspaper took on when Avista Capital Partners LP bought it from McClatchy Co. in March 2007.

Newspaper Guild leaders at the Minneapolis newspaper said that union’s concessions are worth $1.7 million, not including the pension freeze.

The new contract, which would begin Aug. 1, still needs to be ratified by union members, which also include a few in promotions and circulation.

Graydon Royce, co-chairman of the newsroom unit, said in an e-mail to union members that the proposed deal was “painful and distasteful.”

“We believe that we would put members at greater exposure had we not reached an agreement and the company brought the matter to the (bankruptcy) court,” said Royce and members of the Guild bargaining committee.

He said the union hopes to hold a ratification vote on Wednesday.

A call to a spokesman for the newspaper’s management was not immediately returned Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the union that represents newsroom employees at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has approved a 6.6 percent pay cut for its members.

The Milwaukee Newspaper Guild Local 51 approved the cut Thursday by a vote of 86-46. In exchange, employees get 10 more paid days off this year, as well as a guarantee of no layoffs through Sept. 30.

The newspaper is owned by Journal Communications Inc. Its executives and managers took a 6 percent pay cut earlier this month and received 10 paid days off.

Acting Guild president Greg Pearson says it’s never easy to choose between a pay cut and layoffs. But he said workers are hopeful for the paper’s future.

On the Net:

Newspaper Guild at the Star Tribune: www.stribguild.com

Information from: Star Tribune, www.startribune.com