Unions at Denver Papers Asked for Concessions

By: The Denver Newspaper Agency, which handles the business operations of The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News, has asked six unions to accept $20 million in wage and benefit concessions by Jan. 16, the News reported Friday.

Missy Miller, the newspaper agency's senior vice president of human resources, told the unions in a letter that new labor contracts must be reached by that date so the agency can try to renegotiate $130 million in debt.

"If that fails, the financial health of DNA will be even more significantly impacted than it has been to date, and the employer will have to consider all options available to it," Miller wrote this week.

Officials with the newspaper agency did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday from The Associated Press.

The Post and the News are partners in a joint operating agreement between MediaNews Group Inc., which owns The Post, and E.W. Scripps Co., which owns the News.

Scripps has put the News and its 50 percent stake in the joint operating agreement up for sale. It expects the News to lose $15 million this year, as the newspaper industry has been battered by the economy and competition from the Internet.

Union contracts with the newspaper agency are set to expire in October 2009, while The Post contract is to expire in March 2010, according to the News.

On Dec. 12, Post Publisher William Dean Singleton asked unions at The Post and the newspaper agency to reopen their labor contracts, Newspaper Guild spokesman Tony Mulligan said. Mulligan said cuts in wages, benefits and jobs were being sought. The News reported Friday that Singleton told the unions $18 million in cuts were needed at the newspaper agency and $2 million at The Post.

The unions have asked to inspect the agency's books.

Singleton is chief executive officer of MediaNews, which also owns The Detroit News and more than 50 other dailies. He is chairman of the board of The Associated Press.

Last week, Moody's Investors Service downgraded MediaNews' debt ratings to a non-investment grade rating of "Caa3," which is the third-lowest rating on a 21-notch scale. It based the rating on concerns that advertising declines at its daily newspapers would drag on longer than expected.

MediaNews said last week it is meeting the terms of all its debt agreements. It also said more than half of its public debt and much of its bank debt is held by MediaNews shareholders.