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PHILADELPHIA (AFX) - Six of 10 unions at Philadelphia's two largest newspapers have voted to ratify their three-year labor contracts, officials said Monday.
Drivers, building services personnel, roadmen, dispatchers, mailers, machinists, typographers and electronic technicians at The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News have agreed to contracts that include lump-sum payments of $750 per person in September 2007 and January 2008. In the contracts' third year, they also get a $25-per-week raise.
The unions have agreed to changes in work rules that would lead to reduced staffing and payroll, potentially saving money for the newspapers' owner, Philadelphia Media Holdings.
The platemakers union is expected to vote on its contract Tuesday while the pressmen and printers should meet sometime this week, said Joe Lyons, president of Philadelphia Council of Newspaper Unions, which represents nine unions covering 1,100 employees at the newspapers.
Meanwhile, the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia was in talks Monday with management. The union, which represents over 900 editorial, circulation, advertising and clerical workers, is unhappy with management's proposal to freeze and take over the pension.
Philadelphia Media Holdings bought the dailies from McClatchy Co. in June in a deal valued at $562 million. The purchase price included $47 million in assumed pension liabilities. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
Copyright 2006 AFX News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
