Sun-Times Media LLC, publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and other suburban papers, has warned employees that some workers could lose their jobs as the company consolidates suburban operations in its River North headquarters.
The company told employees of the possible cuts last week in a state-required letter called a WARN notice, named after the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires disclosure whenever a company expects it may cut 50 or more workers.
Sun-Times is still deciding how many jobs may be eliminated because that depends on the number of suburban workers who agree by Feb. 25 to relocate to the headquarters, said Ted Rilea, the company's vice president of labor relations and human resources. If not enough workers make the move, the company may have to hire workers downtown, but if all of them want to move, it will have to cut employees, he said in an interview.
The company expects to complete the move by March 25, according to a note published by the Newspaper Guild, a union that represents some Sun-Times workers and is negotiating a contract with the company for about 150 employees.
The union expressed its concerns to management about the impact of the move on workers, specifically the increased costs for transportation, said Dave Roeder, a union representative and Chicago Sun-Times business reporter.
Sun-Times Media told employees last month that it planned to close its suburban offices and move news editing and production workers, including 47 editorial assistants and copy editors, to the downtown headquarters while reporters mainly would remain in the suburbs.
No comments:
Post a Comment