Philly Unions, Owners Extend Talks

By: E&P Staff The new owners of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News and the union have agreed to extend talks for 30-days.

Tonight was the deadline for negotiations between management and 10 unions at the papers. Two of papers? largest unions including the Newspaper Guild had earlier voted to strike if a contract could not have been reached.

?We thought it was in the interest of everybody to extend it to the end of November,? Joe Lyons, head of the union council, told the Inquirer which reported the story today.

The Inquirer reported that management and six small unions have reached the outlines of a new agreement but the guild and three teamster locals are ?still working on settlements.?

Earlier this month, Brian Tierney, one of the owners of the papers, sent a letter to employees explaining that drastic measures -- including job cuts -- had to be taken to stop the bleeding. Cash flow is expected to fall by 50% to $50 million this year.