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Tribune Publishing, the parent company of the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, and the Baltimore Sun, late Thursday said it was asking employees across the company to take pay cuts ranging from 2 percent to 10 percent. Unionized shops within the company are being asked to take a 4.5 percent pay cut, according …
Tribune Publishing, the parent company of the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, and the Baltimore Sun, late Thursday said it was asking employees across the company to take pay cuts ranging from 2 percent to 10 percent.
Unionized shops within the company are being asked to take a 4.5 percent pay cut, according to a source.
Chief Executive Terry Jimenez in a memo to 5,000 staffers said the company “will permanently reduce base pay from 2 percent to 10 percent for employees who have an annual base salary of $67,000 or more. These reductions will be on a sliding scale with those earning more taking a steeper cut.”
“I will be foregoing my salary for two weeks in addition to a 10 percent reduction in my base salary, totaling a 13.8 percent pay reduction,” he said.
Jimenez said the company will also be offering an undisclosed number of buyouts. Employees who opt for a buyout can avoid the pay cut, but must make up their minds by April 17 and exit the company by April 29.
The survivors’ pay cuts will take hold on April 19.
“Despite strong readership and engagement to the work we are doing, the current business climate poses challenges for everyone. Along with most of our industry peers, we are experiencing a negative business impact as a result of the pandemic,”said Jimenez.
“This is particularly true in our print advertising business, where most of the local businesses that we partner with are effectively shut down. In the wake of these revenue declines, we must take drastic actions to better position ourselves for the future.”
The company’s largest shareholder is Alden Global Capital headed by Heath Freeman, which has a reputation for severe cuts to newspapers it owns. Alden currently owns 32 percent and has a standstill against acquiring more shares that expires on June 30.
Alden’s MNG Holdings owns Digital First Media which owns 50 daily papers including the Denver Post, the Boston Herald and the San Jose Mercury News, all of which have undergone deep pay cuts.
Tribune’s stock was up 3.7 percent Thursday, closing at $8.32 before the cuts were revealed.
