Posted by Bud on June 08, 2010 at 07:35:32:
June 07, 2010
Sun-Times Media's Pioneer Press cuts 3 editorial jobs
Sun-Times Media's Pioneer Press group of weekly suburban newspapers has reduced its staff by three editorial positions, the company confirmed Monday.
"We're naturally disappointed any time the company elects to downsize, especially when it takes feet off the street," the Chicago Newspaper Guild, which represents Pioneer Press newsroom workers, said in a statement. "We have some issues with the way the company is handling these types of layoffs."
There is a disagreement over whether Sun-Times Media is required to give two weeks of advance notice (or two additional weeks of pay) to Guild members whose jobs are eliminated. Their severance already has been reduced to four weeks' pay. An arbitration hearing is set for Sept. 14.
The company has said it is constantly evaluating its personnel and publications' needs. Since rescued from the brink of liquidation by Mesirow Financial head Jim Tyree and other local investors, who gained labor concessions as a precondition of taking control of the Chicago Sun-Times and other area papers on Oct. 26, there have a been a few such moves.
Sun-Times Media on April 26 announced an asset sale of its North Shore magazine to Make It Better, which acquired subscriber lists, advertiser contracts and trademarks but not North Shore's staff. A reporter and copy editor were let go on March 31 at The Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana, another Sun-Times Media publication. An editorial staffer at the News-Sun in Waukegan also was let go in March.
To gain major wage, work-rule and seniority concessions that Tyree's group demanded as prerequisite for acquiring the company and making it a viable concern, management agreed that any union workers to lose jobs in the first half-year under the new ownership would receive eight weeks of severance, rather than just four.
Thomas Thibeault, executive director of the Chicago Newspaper Guild, said the layoffs are going to arbitration because the company has argued it is no longer required to give two weeks notice (or at least two weeks of pay) to those let go. A Sun-Times Media spokeswoman said the company had no comment at this time.
"We asked to have a representative from Tyree at the table specifically for this reason," said Thibeault, referring to the negotiations last year on givebacks, which included the reduced severance. "We specifically asked and they said, 'We can't have a representative of Tyree at the table because they don't have legal standing.' We said we would waive legal standing. They wouldn't even have had to be a participant in the bargaining, but they could have been there to explain their position.
"Now they're saying that (Tyree's team) had specific things (in mind) but never told us," Thibeault said. "Well, guess what, we only bought what we discussed. If there were no bargaining history, this might be open to discussion. But bargaining is a process. It's a process of discussion. It's a process of trust."
Under previous Sun-Times Media ownership, the company in January 2009 eliminated 12 titles in the Glenview-based Pioneer Press group of suburban papers, reducing its number of weeklies from 51 to 39, in a bid to cut staffing, satellite offices and other costs.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)