Buyouts in Baltimore Worry Weary 'Sun' Staffers

By: Joe Strupp Most rank and file employees of The Sun in Baltimore thought they'd seen the worst when they approved a contract last year that even the Newspaper Guild leadership opposed, and then saw longtime editor William Marimow forced out several months ago.

But as the newsroom braces for cutbacks in news space, staff reductions through a controversial buyout and possible layoffs, and heavier workloads according to some, the worst may be yet to come, workers fear.

"I am not surprised, but I am disappointed," said Julie Bell, a reporter and editorial vice chair of the local guild unit. "It's been a difficult year and a half with contract negotiations and the departure of some top editors. But I am still proud to work at the Sun."

Michael Hill, unit chair of the Washington Baltimore Newspaper Guild, said he has gone from believing that The Tribune Company, which owns The Sun and 12 other dailies, was simply acting as a hard-line manager to viewing them as anti-union. "I was prepared (in the past) to believe that the adversarial relationship was a professional one," Hill told E&P. But what he called a "contempt for organized labor" really hurts the shareholders of the Tribune Company "because it does damage to their properties."

Tribune recently announced plans to cut up to 200 jobs across many of it papers, with buyout offers recently instituted at The Sun and the Los Angeles Times. Sun employees are being offered one week's pay for every six months of employment, up to a year of salary, if they take the buyout, Hill said.

Union officials said the paper is seeking at least 18 takers for the offer, which would not eliminate the chance of layoffs, but would likely diminish it, Hill said. Employees have until June 25 to decide if they want the buyout.

"We have had a number of people who are interested and we are cautiously optimistic that we are getting enough people to take the offer," said Sun spokeswoman Mireille Grangenois, who declined to say how many employees have expressed interest. "We want to go with a voluntary program because if there was enough interest it could avoid layoffs."

Guild leaders and Sun management were in a dispute last week over the buyout offer, which union leaders claimed was unfair because it did not give employees the required 45 days to change their minds after taking the offer and waiving their right to sue. The two sides resolved the dispute when the union chose to allow individual employees to waive their rights to sue, but the union as a whole would not support the action.

Hill also said that other provisions were instituted into the buyout plan that protected older workers and those with greater seniority.

But other changes, including a 10 percent reduction in newshole and, according to some workers, more workload for employees who will remain and have to work more weekend rotations, have lowered morale as well.

"We had a pretty big newshole and it doesn't feel like a 10 percent cut to me," said Managing Editor Tony Barbieri. "We think we did a pretty good job of it."

Union leaders contend that the company's actions are hurting its relationship with the workers. "They have to understand that the guild is not going to go away," Hill said. "It is not in their interest to have a workforce that hates them."

Grangenois countered by reminding workers that the company is seeking a middle ground by offering a buyout as a first step before resorting to layoffs. "We went to the guild because they had told us in the past that they would prefer a voluntary buyout," she said.