The union representing St. Louis Post-Dispatch employees has approved a new contract with Lee Enterprises which lowers wages 6 percent, provides three weeks of unpaid furloughs over the next three years, eliminates retiree medical coverage and freezes pension benefits.
The 5-1/2-year contract is estimated to save Lee more than $30 million, according to the company's filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. Lee owns 49 daily newspapers including the Quad City Times. The Post-Dispatch is its only unionized paper.
If the St. Louis newspaper manages to increase revenues 2 percent in each fiscal year 2011, 2012 and 2013, the employees would get a 2.5 percent wage increase in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The agreement guarantees no layoffs at the paper for the next six months and increases the company's annual 401(k) contribution by $300 per employee.
Lee's initial contract proposal sought a 15 percent wage cut, plus an additional 5 percent reduction in each of the following two years. The contract vote was 132-54.
The contentious contract talks between the St. Louis newspaper guild and Lee led to a demonstration by union members outside the company's annual meeting in Davenport in February.
Lee also has created a web site, LeeUnionFree.net, for "sharing information about the workplace philosophy of Lee Enterprises and why we believe that unions are not in the best interest of our employees or our mission of serving our communities."
