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

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The new contract cuts pay 7 percent for the rest of and slashes an additional 2 percen t from paychecks starting onNew Year’sx Day. The Media Workers Guild’s Northern Californiw unit announced late last week that it had reachedx a tentative contract deal with the Mercury News for its 257 membersa atthe paper. The contactf also increases employee health insurancde contributions and makesother concessions. The Guild represents 257 MercuryuNews employees, including 130 in editorial jobs and 127 in circulation, finance and support positions. A ratification meeting to discuss and vote on the proposesd contract was heldMonday afternoon. The new contract expires Nov. 30, 2010.
Othed concessions include reduced vacation accruals and movingthe Merc’w copy desk to Walnut Creek, where MediaNews’ is based. It owns the Mercur News and 11 other daily papers in the which include virtually all of the dailty papers in the Bay Area exceptr theand . “This is a tough contract that will hurt a lot of our but it reflects the terribles situation that the news industryt and the countryis in,” San Jose Guild Presidentt Sylvia Ulloa said in a statement published in the Mercur y News . Ulloa was on the bargaininb committee that negotiatedwith management.
“The committee did the best we coulds do to limit the damage toour members, minimize the loss of jobs and to try to maintaih the quality of the Mercuru News.” The deal would also permit management to requirer up to five furlough days in move remaining circulation and finance jobs to the Bay Area News Group’w shared services center in San consolidate advertising functions in the East Bay and San hire commission-only sales representatives to developo new business, and win some additional subcontractingf rights, according to the Guild. The contracft negotiations have taken place during grim timees fordaily newspapers.
Several major papers have foldexd inrecent months, including the and the print version of the , and many major metropolitan papers, includinb the San Francisco Chronicls , , , and face daunting financial challenges.