Now more than ever, you need to know who your steward is. In the wake of so many recent departures, we’ve realigned stewards and their assignments. Download a copy of the new list here. Stewards can swap responsibilities for various folks as they wish, just so long as everyone has a contact person.
Up next: Your stewards are collecting all members’ home e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers for emergency contact use. Help them out; get them that info soon as you can.
PamMiller Stewards
A link from Liz Fedor: The moment that a debtor files for bankruptcy protection the playing field immediately changes. Old familiar rules are out and the Bankruptcy code is in. The creditor, which initiates aggressive and protective measures from the outset of the case, is most likely to maximize its return. One of the best ways for creditors to participate in such active measures is to join an official creditors’ committee…
Jenna Ross Bankruptcy
We just got word that the bankruptcy court has named the Guild to the committee of unsecured creditors that will monitor the reorganization, participate in plans to get the company out of bankruptcy and play a role in Guild negotiations with the company. The Baltimore Sun, also a Guild newspaper in bankruptcy, also has a seat on its creditors committee. Here are the seven organizations on this one:
1. Wilmington Trust Company
New York, New York
Attn: Mr. Boris Treyger, Vice President
2. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Washington, D.C.
Attn: Marie-Christine Fogt, Financial Analyst
3. Global Leveraged Capital Management LLC
San Francisco, CA
Attn: Abraham T. Han, Principal
4. The Minnesota Newspaper Guild/Typographical Union
St. Anthony, Minnesota
Attn: Mike Bucsko, Executive Officer
5. Teamsters Local No. 120
Blaine, MN
Attn: Brad Slawson, Sr., Secretary-Treasurer
6. APAC Customer Services, Inc.
Bannockburn, IL
Attn: Robert Nachwalter, SVP and General Counsel
7. Royle Printing Company
Sun Prairie, WI
Attn: Scott Pierquet, Director of Finance
Jenna Ross Bankruptcy
Strib unit stewards will meet at noon Wednesday (Jan. 28, 2009) in Large Conference Room 1 on the second floor.
Pizza, pop and bottled water will be available. We’ll review the bankruptcy process and give out 2009 steward-member assignments, as well as take your questions and comments. All are welcome, as we’ll be discussing the need for volunteers to implement mobilization strategies.
PamMiller Stewards
In the days since filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Star Tribune has filed more than a dozen motions to retain law and re-org firms and authorize payments, among other things. Here, we’ve collected a few of them:
If there are other public documents you’d like to see, let us know. We’ll post more as they become available.
Jenna Ross Bankruptcy
A dozen former Star Tribune employees who had not cashed their buyout checks will get their money, said Mike Bucsko, executive officer of the Minnesota Newspaper Guild.
The company had informed the workers last night that the checks would bounce if cashed because of legal restraints on its spending following last week’s bankruptcy filing. But the court today approved lifting the hold on the severance checks, Bucsko said.
The former Guild members affected by the delay took 12 of 23 buyouts in the newsroom this month. Several employees who cashed their checks immediately had no problem doing so.
To read MinnPost’s coverage of the hold on the checks, click here.
Jenna Ross Bankruptcy
The Guild unit’s co-chair Graydon Royce recently talked with Kerri Miller about the Star Tribune’s bankruptcy on MPR’s “Midmorning.” The following is an excerpt from the conversation:
Miller: Do you and others in the union think that this filing last night is the consequence of poor management, too much debt when Avista came in to buy the Star Trib, an economy that you just can’t make enough of a profit in? Where do you lay the blame for the bankruptcy?
Royce: Where is the all-of-the-above option?
Miller: [Laughs.] You’re choosing D on that one, all of the above.
Royce: Well, yeah, these are some of the risks, Kerri, that are associated with leveraged buyouts by investors who think they’re getting into a quick-profit situation – which might be fine if you’re making widgets, but you know we’re kind of a civic institution occupying this kind of uneasy place between civic, public responsibility and private business. They paid a lot of money and they have enormous debt load, and that is really hurting. Does the economy hurt? Absolutely. The economy has just been devastating. Is this industry in transition? Absolutely. And the Guild really recognizes that. In the last year, we have done a lot, and the people here in the newsroom have shown an enormous amount of goodwill and interest in trying to move this thing into a multi-media company, which is where we understand the future to be.
To hear the full interview, click here.
Jenna Ross Bankruptcy
The Star Tribune filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Thursday in New York, and we’re still here. What does it mean? We don’t know all the answers, and won’t know some of them for months — or even years.
But here’s what we do know:
- Bankruptcy doesn’t mean the Star Tribune is shutting down. Chapter 11 means the company gets a time-out from some of its obligations while it tries to reorganize and/or refinance itself. Many companies — such as Northwest Airlines — have gone through a reorganization lasting months or years, and emerged from the bankruptcy process.
- In Chapter 11, a company continues to pay its employees and vendors. Its operations are overseen by a bankruptcy court, and there is a committee of creditors (entities owed money by the Star Tribune) that gets to express opinions to the judge. In the Baltimore Sun’s case (part of the Tribune Co. bankruptcy), the Guild was granted a seat on the creditors’ committee.
- The Guild/CWA has hired Bruce H. Simon of the New York firm Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP, as its bankruptcy counsel. Simon represented unionized pilots in the Northwest Airlines and Mesaba Airlines bankruptcy cases. We will more than likely hire a financial expert, as well.
- As long as the labor contract is in effect, wages, benefits and other provisions (such as layoff procedures) must follow contract terms. The Guild will review any proposed changes with the membership.
- A company cannot unilaterally reject labor contracts when it files for bankruptcy. If it believes there’s a good case for canceling contracts, the company can ask the judge, but it must first make a proposal to the union seeking to modify the existing labor contract, and must meet at reasonable times with the union to discuss that proposal.
- If the union turns down such a proposal, the employer can then petition the court to reject the labor contract, in which case unions can make their arguments, too. Even if a labor contract is canceled with the approval of the court in a bankruptcy, the union continues to have bargaining rights, meaning the company is required to negotiate with that union under labor law.
- Although pensions and related benefits can sometimes be changed in a bankruptcy, it isn’t automatic, and the company can’t change them unilaterally. Again, the company has to make the case to the judge. Even if the court grants the employer’s request to modify a retiree benefit plan, the representatives of the retirees can later petition the court to increase benefits paid under that plan. 401(k) money is kept in a separate fund and should not be touched by the company.
- The bankruptcy does not necessarily mean the Star Tribune will be sold off in parts. But the Guild will work with local investors who are interested in buying the Star Tribune. Our goal is to find owners who are committed to serving the community, readers and advertisers with a quality newspaper and website.
We understand this is a potentially long and complicated process. Your Guild leaders will keep you up-to-date on all important developments.
Graydon Royce Bankruptcy