• Bloomberg, Thursday, September 3, 2009 9:33 PM

Montreal's La Presse, North America's largest French-language broadsheet newspaper, says it may suspend publication Dec. 1 if it can't agree on a labor contract with its unions. Publisher Gesca, a unit of Power Corp. of Canada, is negotiating with eight unions representing about 700 employees. Gesca wants to cut $23.6 million in annual expenses at the newspaper, with about half the cuts coming from labor expenses.

Reporters at the 124-year-old newspaper work 32 hours a week over four days, according to data compiled by the Quebec Federation of Journalists. Gesca wants the unions to agree to extend the working week to 35 hours over five days, says a rep for the paper. In addition, the paper may have to cut as many as 100 jobs.

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