Mar 14, 2009 4:18 pm US/Pacific
Chronicle Union OKs Big Job Cuts To Save Paper
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP) ―
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Copies of the San Francisco Chronicle are seen next to a change cup at a newspaper stand.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The San Francisco Chronicle's largest employees union approved a tentative labor agreement Saturday afternoon that allows layoffs without regard to seniority, along with other cost-cutting measures aimed at trying to save the cash-strapped newspaper.
Michael Cabanatuan, president of the Northern California Media Workers Guild and a Chronicle reporter, said the union's members passed the agreement by a 10-1 margin. The union represents about 500 editorial, advertising and circulation workers.
The concessions also include less vacation time and longer work weeks for the same wage.
Cabanatuan said he expects the company will cut about 150 guild-covered jobs. The newspaper's management had threatened to lay off 225.
"It's going to be sad, I know, but we can move forward, we are the Chronicle," said Cabanatuan.
It was a somber moment when the union announced the vote results. Chronicle Columnist Chuck Nevius said it will be hard to see such a large number of their staff go.
"Friends, and colleagues and co-workers, and some really passionate people are going to walk out the door very soon, and we know that they're taking with them some experience but [that] they're walking into a situation where they have mortgages and college tuitions, and they have families and kids in a tough job market," said Nevius.
The Chronicle's owner, Hearst Corp., said the paper lost $50 million last year and has not been in the black since 2001.
Hearst had said it would shut down the 144-year-old daily if the paper's union workforce did not agree to restructuing their contracts.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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