• by Ray Schultz , February 21, 2024

Tribune Publishing, the Alden Global Capital company that publishes the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers, plans to lay off 198 workers at its Freedom Center printing plant as it prepares to relocate its printing to a former Paddock Publications facility in Schaumburg, Illinois. The layoffs will start on April 22. 

The Freedom Center planting Chicago is being torn down and will be replaced by a Bally’s casino. Bally’s agreed to pay the Tribune $150 million to vacate the spot by July 5 of this year, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

The affected employees mostly work on assembling 3 million pre-printed Vericast advertising packages. 

These pieces, which are inserted in print copies of the Tribune or mailed to households on Wednesdays, are beyond the capacity of the Schaumburg plant, which was acquitted by Tribune Publishing last year. They will now be assembled at a Vericast shop in Milwaukee. 

Tribune Publishing has invited the affected workers to apply for 51 open positions at the new plant, with a Friday deadline. Tribune will now print the Daily Herald, a Paddock publication, under contract, the Tribune reports. 

The Freedom Center plant has housed the Tribune newsroom since 2021, the paper states. It has also prints The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times and other newspapers.