Dow Jones Freezes Wages For Nonunion Employees In 2009
08 Gennaio 2009 - 10:38PM
Dow Jones News
Dow Jones & Co. will freeze wages for nonunion employees in
2009 and seek to do the same for union-represented staff next year
in an effort to cut costs amid the global financial crisis and
economic downturn.
Dow Jones, the publisher of this newswire and The Wall Street
Journal, and acquired by global media giant News Corp. (NWS) in
2007, has been hit hard by advertising weakness along with the rest
of the media industry. In particular, newspapers have been hammered
by sharp revenue declines caused by challenges to their traditional
business models posed by the Internet.
The New York Times Co. (NYT) recently instituted a wage freeze
for its nonunion employees, and similar steps have been taken at
other publishers, like McClatchy Co. (MNI) and A.H. Belo Corp.
(AHC).
For its part, Dow Jones and other parts of News Corp. have made
job cuts in recent months, but a spokeswoman for the company
declined to provide specifics. Dow Jones employs about 6,500
full-time workers, and roughly 4,000 of those will be affected by
the wage freeze.
Dow Jones Chief Executive Les Hinton said in a memo to employees
that the wage freeze will help the company minimize possible job
cuts in the future.
"I know you are all well aware that the uncertainty of the
broader economy touches all our businesses," Hinton said. "We don't
know how profound the problems will be, or how long they will last.
The only prudent course is to continue managing all expenses
aggressively until we can see more clearly where we are
headed."
Steven Yount, a spokesman for the Independent Association of
Publishers' Employees, said Dow Jones' union-represented employees
have a contract for a 3% wage hike effective Feb. 1. Also, there
are provisions for a cost-of-living salary adjustment as well,
based on certain variables.
He said the current labor contract is up for negotiation in
early 2010, and he expects to begin negotiations with the company
later this year.
-By Nat Worden, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5216;
nat.worden@dowjones.com
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