New York Times to lay off news service workers

posted: 88 DAYS 14 HOURS AGO

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NEW YORK -The New York Times News Service, which repackages Times stories for other media outlets, is laying off at least 25 employees.

Those cuts are in addition to the 100 newsroom jobs the Times plans to eliminate by the end of the year, according to New York Times Co. spokeswoman Diane McNulty.

New nonunion jobs will be created at the Times Co.'s Gainesville Sun in Florida to handle editing the wire service.

Bill O'Meara, head of the New York Newspaper Guild, said union contracts give it 60 days to try to persuade the Times to reverse its decision. While the Times will be able to save money by paying nonunion workers less, O'Meara said the news service will be giving up "years of experience and know-how."

The Times Co. will also stop making contributions to the pension plans of nonunion workers throughout the company. Instead the company will contribute an additional amount, equal to 3 percent of their salaries, to their 401(k) plans.

The Times, like newspapers across the country, is cutting costs as advertising revenue falls.

2009-11-13 14:49:55