Inquirer Sale Delayed By Two Weeks

PHILADELPHIA - Unsigned labor contracts have stalled Tuesday's scheduled bankruptcy sale of Philadelphia's two major newspapers.

A judge has now set a Sept. 14 deadline for creditors to close their purchase of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. The two-week delay gives them time to hammer out contract differences that mostly concern pensions.

Creditors won the April bankruptcy auction for the newspapers with a $139 million bid. But the sale hinges on signed labor agreements.

Drivers, machinists and three other groups have rejected the contract offer, while writers and photographers voted to accept wage cuts and furloughs.

Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Raslavich says he's confident the deal can close after an acrimonious 18-month bankruptcy.

At least three unions could not reach deals with the new owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer, placing the takeover of the bankrupt media company in jeopardy.

A major Teamsters union and two other unions overwhelmingly rejected deals that would have reportedly cut some of their benefits.
Nine other unions accepted similar deals by the court mandated August 31st deadline.

Lawyers for the previous ownership group (that had been led by Brian Tierney) and the new ownership group, Philadelphia Media Network, met for three hours on Monday with bankruptcy judge Steve Raslavich in Philadelphia, said Editor & Publisher.

Some union members were also at the talks.

The same lawyers will meet with Raslavich at 1 p.m. on Tuesday to discuss possible outcomes.

Philadelphia Media Network has the legal option to drop the takeover bid since the all the union deals were not reached by August 31.

That would be highly unlikely, give the new owners’ investment in bringing the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com out of bankruptcy.

Drivers who deliver Philadelphia's two major daily papers overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer from new owners trying to bring the company out of bankruptcy. A machinist unions and the pressman's union also turned down a new contract.

The new owners are a group of financial institutions that bid $139 million to win this year's auction for The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News and philly.com.

They have until Tuesday to reach agreements with the company's 14 bargaining units so the deal can close.

The union representing reporters, editors and advertising staff accepted a deal last week.