Unions object to effort to reject some old Sun-Times Media contracts

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ chicagomedia.org :: Chicago Radio, TV, All Media Discussion Forum ]

Posted by Bud on January 01, 2010 at 15:35:15:

Among the financial obligations the owners of the new Sun-Times Media elected to leave with the vestigial parent of the Chicago Sun-Times and other area papers are the few hundred bucks a month owed a handful of former employees as part of their severance agreements, and the still-bankrupt part of the old company is trying to get out from under the contracts.

The Newspaper Guild and Chicago Typographical Union on Thursday filed an objection in Delaware bankruptcy court, saying the action -- which affects former Sun-Times columnist Dan Jedlicka among others -- should be disallowed because the exit packages should be protected because they were part of collectively bargained agreements.

"They filed this motion on Christmas Eve, of all times," said Tom Thibeault, executive director of the Chicago Newspaper Guild. "It came as a shock to us. Our job is to protect our members, whether they took buy-outs or not."

Last fall, an investor group led by businessman James Tyree took control of the Chicago Sun-Times parent, saving it from liquidation by splitting it in two with one operational entity going forward and the other remaining mired in debt. The Dec. 24 filing by the still-bankrupt entity that listed contracts it seeks to reject came on the 59th day of a 60-day window that followed the Oct. 26 transaction close.

"Under the terms of their purchase agreement, it's solely within (the Tyree group's) discretion what they want to do with each of those contracts," said Joe Greenberg, vice president and general counsel for what's now Chicago Newspaper Liquidation Corp.. "We then go on to reject the ones they don't want and not reject the ones they do want. We have to implement those decision through a bankruptcy filing, but the decision is made by them."

Some of the rejected contracts, such as a $144,667 a month deal with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to print the suburban Pioneer Press newspapers, have been replaced with renegotiated versions. But Sun-Times Media is seeking to keep other contracts intact, according to the filing, such as its suites for Bears and Cubs games.

(Phil Rosenthal)

Linkback

Follow Ups:

Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comments:
: Unions object to effort to reject some old Sun-Times Media contracts : : Among the financial obligations the owners of the new Sun-Times Media elected to leave with the vestigial parent of the Chicago Sun-Times and other area papers are the few hundred bucks a month owed a handful of former employees as part of their severance agreements, and the still-bankrupt part of the old company is trying to get out from under the contracts. : The Newspaper Guild and Chicago Typographical Union on Thursday filed an objection in Delaware bankruptcy court, saying the action -- which affects former Sun-Times columnist Dan Jedlicka among others -- should be disallowed because the exit packages should be protected because they were part of collectively bargained agreements. : "They filed this motion on Christmas Eve, of all times," said Tom Thibeault, executive director of the Chicago Newspaper Guild. "It came as a shock to us. Our job is to protect our members, whether they took buy-outs or not." : Last fall, an investor group led by businessman James Tyree took control of the Chicago Sun-Times parent, saving it from liquidation by splitting it in two with one operational entity going forward and the other remaining mired in debt. The Dec. 24 filing by the still-bankrupt entity that listed contracts it seeks to reject came on the 59th day of a 60-day window that followed the Oct. 26 transaction close. : "Under the terms of their purchase agreement, it's solely within (the Tyree group's) discretion what they want to do with each of those contracts," said Joe Greenberg, vice president and general counsel for what's now Chicago Newspaper Liquidation Corp.. "We then go on to reject the ones they don't want and not reject the ones they do want. We have to implement those decision through a bankruptcy filing, but the decision is made by them." : Some of the rejected contracts, such as a $144,667 a month deal with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to print the suburban Pioneer Press newspapers, have been replaced with renegotiated versions. But Sun-Times Media is seeking to keep other contracts intact, according to the filing, such as its suites for Bears and Cubs games. : : (Phil Rosenthal)

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

Enter verification code:

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ chicagomedia.org :: Chicago Radio, TV, All Media Discussion Forum ]

postings are the opinions of their respective posters and site ownership disclaims any responsibility for the content contained.
(register a domain name, host your web site, accept credit cards, get a unix shell account)