Following the announcement that McClatchy Co. is buying the Knight Ridder newspaper chain, the union representing workers at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Duluth News-Tribune and others said it will press ahead with a plan to buy the publications.
McClatchy announced early Monday it had reached a deal to buy Knight Ridder, Inc., but said it would immediately sell 12 of the chain's 32 daily papers. Included in those 12 papers are eight papers organized by The Newspaper Guild-CWA, including the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Duluth News Tribune, Grand Forks Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, San Jose Mercury News, Akron Beacon Journal, and The Monterey County Herald.
"From the start, our goal has been to facilitate a 'worker friendly' buyout of these newspapers that have a combined employment of approximately 7,000 and a combined daily circulation of 1.3 million," TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said in a statement issued in Washington.
"While we have been focused on the TNG-CWA unionized papers, our team will consider the entire package of 12 papers.
"Today's announcement by McClatchy Co. does not change our commitment to pursuing our goal. We believe that our team is a viable and credible acquirer of any and all of the newspapers that McClatchy has indicated it intends to sell and we look forward to the opportunity to discuss our interest with McClatchy. Our effort enjoys the backing of the Yucaipa Companies of Los Angeles, one of the premier 'worker friendly' funds in the nation, and the professional counsel of Duff & Phelps Securities, LLC of Chicago and Ownership Associates of Cambridge, MA."
Through a combination of employee ownership and private equity investors such as Yucaipa and union pension funds, the union papers would be run independently in an "employee friendly" way, said Darren Carroll, a TNG-CWA international representative.
The new company, tentatively named Value Plus Media Corporation, would value quality journalism and respect collective bargaining and labor agreements, he said, rather than putting excessive focus on the bottom line. The Guild itself would not have an ownership stake.
Yucaipa's "track record of working with labor is really strong," Carroll said. The California-based company's most visible involvement has been in the grocery industry, he said.
Guild-represented employees of the Knight Ridder newspapers will discuss the proposal at the next meeting of the union's Knight Ridder Council, set for Friday through Sunday in San Jose, Calif.
McClatchy currently owns the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where workers also are represented by TNG-CWA.
This article contains information from ValuePlusMedia.com, www.knightridderwatch.org and the St. Paul Union Advocate.
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Following the announcement that McClatchy Co. is buying the Knight Ridder newspaper chain, the union representing workers at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Duluth News-Tribune and others said it will press ahead with a plan to buy the publications.
McClatchy announced early Monday it had reached a deal to buy Knight Ridder, Inc., but said it would immediately sell 12 of the chain’s 32 daily papers. Included in those 12 papers are eight papers organized by The Newspaper Guild-CWA, including the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Duluth News Tribune, Grand Forks Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, San Jose Mercury News, Akron Beacon Journal, and The Monterey County Herald.
“From the start, our goal has been to facilitate a ‘worker friendly’ buyout of these newspapers that have a combined employment of approximately 7,000 and a combined daily circulation of 1.3 million,” TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said in a statement issued in Washington.
“While we have been focused on the TNG-CWA unionized papers, our team will consider the entire package of 12 papers.
“Today’s announcement by McClatchy Co. does not change our commitment to pursuing our goal. We believe that our team is a viable and credible acquirer of any and all of the newspapers that McClatchy has indicated it intends to sell and we look forward to the opportunity to discuss our interest with McClatchy. Our effort enjoys the backing of the Yucaipa Companies of Los Angeles, one of the premier ‘worker friendly’ funds in the nation, and the professional counsel of Duff & Phelps Securities, LLC of Chicago and Ownership Associates of Cambridge, MA.”
Through a combination of employee ownership and private equity investors such as Yucaipa and union pension funds, the union papers would be run independently in an “employee friendly” way, said Darren Carroll, a TNG-CWA international representative.
The new company, tentatively named Value Plus Media Corporation, would value quality journalism and respect collective bargaining and labor agreements, he said, rather than putting excessive focus on the bottom line. The Guild itself would not have an ownership stake.
Yucaipa’s “track record of working with labor is really strong,” Carroll said. The California-based company’s most visible involvement has been in the grocery industry, he said.
Guild-represented employees of the Knight Ridder newspapers will discuss the proposal at the next meeting of the union’s Knight Ridder Council, set for Friday through Sunday in San Jose, Calif.
McClatchy currently owns the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where workers also are represented by TNG-CWA.
This article contains information from ValuePlusMedia.com, www.knightridderwatch.org and the St. Paul Union Advocate.