As Sun-Times Building Demolition Begins, Union Cements Labor Pact

By: Mark Fitzgerald Chicago Newspaper Guild-represented newsroom employees overwhelmingly ratified a three-year contract with the Chicago Sun-Times Thursday, the same day Donald Trump appeared at a ceremony marking the demolition of the newspaper's old building on the Chicago River.

During negotiations, Guild members frequently expressed anger about allegtions former executives such as Publisher F. David Radler and Hollinger International CEO Conrad Black "looted" some $400 million during a period when their old contract included a wage freeze. But employees backed the new contract by a lopsided vote of 83 to 14.

"The last time, the agreement only passed by 14 votes," said Scott Fornek, a reporter and the union's spokesman during negotiations. "This one pretty much sailed through -- it wasn't a particularly contentious meeting."

With a new contract and new offices a few blocks away from their old quarters, there's been "a lot of talk about a new day," Fornek said. But he added, "I wouldn't go overboard with that. We don't even know who we're going to be dealing with three years from now."

As previously reported, the new contract provides annual raises of 3% in each year of the agreement, plus a "signing bonus" of $1,675 for each employee, to be paid by January. The top minimum salary for a reporter with five years experience would rise to about $65,900 under the first year of the new agreement, not including the signing bonus.

The new contract also contributes an additional $10 per week towards health insurance premiums in each of its three years. The newspaper also agreed to provide domestic partnership health-insurance benefits to all employees with same-sex partners. The union and management will also meet regularly in a new "roundtable" forum to discuss ethical issues.

The contract covers 189 assistant editors, columnists, copy editors, reporters, photographers, and other newsroom workers.

Thursday afternoon, the celebrity builder Donald Trump presided over a ceremonial demolition of the old Sun-Times building, which he is replacing with a 90-story tower housing condominiums and a hotel. Bill Rancic, who won the job of overseeing the Chicago development on the TV show "The Apprentice," watched as part of a canopy was razed. The actual demolition is expected to begin in January.