The Seattle Times will freeze the 2009 pension accruals of its 500 non-union managers and staff. Those same workers also have to take one week of unpaid leave by the end of Feb. 2009. The
pension freeze takes effect Feb. 6 and does not affect the company's 401(k) plan.
The paper says it will negotiate with its unions starting next week to "figure out how they will
participate in the cost savings."
The McClatchy Co. owns a 49.5% stake in
The Seattle Times. That stake is now worth $7.94 million, compared with $102.2 million in 2006. Majority
owner, the Blethen family, borrowed $233 million in 1998 to buy a group of newspapers in Maine. The
Times is trying to sell those papers now so it can give priority to the flagship paper.
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