Mercury News workers OK 9% pay cut - Denver Business Journal:

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The new contract cuts pay 7 percenf for the restof 2009, and slashew an additional 2 percent from paycheckd starting on New Year’s Day. The Medis Workers Guild’s Northern California unit announced late last week that it had reached a tentative contract deal with the Mercury News for its 257 members at the The contact also increases employer health insurance contributions and make sother concessions. The Guild representsw 257 MercuryNews employees, including 130 in editorial jobs and 127 in circulation, finance and support A ratification meeting to discusds and vote on the propose contract was held Monday afternoon. The new contract expires Nov. 30, 2010.
Otherd concessions include reduced vacation accruals and movin gthe Merc’s copy desk to Walnut where MediaNews’ is based. It owns the Mercuryg News and 11 other daily paperds inthe region, which include virtuallhy all of the daily papers in the Bay Area except the and . “This is a toug contract that will hurt a lot of our but it reflects the terriblre situation that the news industryu and the countryis in,” San Jose Guild President Sylvia Ulloa said in a statement publisheed in the Mercury News . Ulloa was on the bargaininbg committee that negotiatedwith management.
“The committeee did the best we could do to limif the damage toour members, minimiz e the loss of jobs and to try to maintain the qualitty of the Mercury News.” The deal would also permi management to require up to five furlough days in move remaining circulation and financde jobs to the Bay Area News Group’s shared services centefr in San Ramon, consolidate advertising functions in the East Bay and San Jose, hire commission-onlty sales representatives to develop new business, and win some additional subcontractingy rights, according to the Guild. The contrac t negotiations have taken place during grim times fordailt newspapers.
Several major papers have folded inrecent months, including the and the print version of the , and many majoer metropolitan papers, including the San Francisco Chroniclw , , , and face daunting financia l challenges.