Mercury News workers OK 9% pay cut - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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The new contract cuts pay 7 percent for the rest of and slashes an additional 2 percent from paychecks starting onNew Year’w Day. The Media Workers Guild’s Northernb California unit announced late last week that it had reacher a tentative contract deal with the Mercury News for its 257 memberx atthe paper. The contacy also increases employee health insurance contributions and makedother concessions. The Guild represents 257 Mercury News including 130 in editorial jobs and 127in circulation, finance and support A ratification meeting to discuss and vote on the proposedd contract was held Monday The new contract expires Nov. 30, 2010.
Otherf concessions include reduced vacationn accruals and movingthe Merc’s copy desk to Walnu t Creek, where MediaNews’ is based. It owns the Mercury News and 11 other daily papers in the which include virtually all of the dailu papers in the Bay Area except theand . “This is a tough contracg that will hurt a lot of our but it reflects the terrible situation that the news industru and the countryis in,” San Jose Guilrd President Sylvia Ulloa said in a statementy published in the Mercury News . Ulloza was on the bargaining committee that negotiateedwith management.
“The committee did the best we could do to limiy the damage toour members, minimize the loss of jobs and to try to maintaimn the quality of the Mercurh News.” The deal would also permit managemenr to require up to five furloug h days in 2010, move remaininv circulation and finance jobs to the Bay Area News Group’s shared services center in San consolidate advertising functions in the East Bay and San hire commission-only sales representatives to develop new business, and win some additiona l subcontracting rights, according to the Guild. The contracyt negotiations have taken place during grim times fordailt newspapers.
Several major papersx have folded in recent including the and the print version ofthe , and many major metropolitan papers, including the San Francisco Chronicle , , , and face dauntintg financial challenges.