Unionized workers in the Chicago Sun-Times' newsroom have rejected demands for deep pay cuts and work-rule changes, putting at risk a planned sale of the financially struggling newspaper to an investment group.
STMG Holdings LLC, led by Chicago banker Jim Tyree, wants several concessions from the Sun-Times Media Group Inc.'s 18 unions, without which it will not go through with the deal to bid for the company in a bankruptcy auction.
Members of the Chicago Newspaper Guild were asked to lock in for at least three years the temporary 15 percent wage cuts imposed this spring. Other demands included wiping out seniority rules and reducing severance guarantees. The union rejected those demands 83-22 Tuesday.
Sun-Times Media Chairman Jeremy Halbreich has told workers that a rejection will mean the end of the company.
STMG Holdings LLC, led by Chicago banker Jim Tyree, wants several concessions from the Sun-Times Media Group Inc.'s 18 unions, without which it will not go through with the deal to bid for the company in a bankruptcy auction.
Members of the Chicago Newspaper Guild were asked to lock in for at least three years the temporary 15 percent wage cuts imposed this spring. Other demands included wiping out seniority rules and reducing severance guarantees. The union rejected those demands 83-22 Tuesday.
Sun-Times Media Chairman Jeremy Halbreich has told workers that a rejection will mean the end of the company.
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