The Chicago Tribune reports the three-week furloughs, which will be taken in one-week increments from May through July, will be for nonunion employees making between $40,000 and $67,000 per year, the company said. Employees will continue to receive health benefits but no salary during the weeks they are on furlough.
“Despite strong engagement with our journalism, the impact on advertising has been profound,” CEO Terry Jimenez said in a memo to employees. “Statewide stay-at-home orders have been extended beyond initial government orders, and as a result, we will need to take additional measures to ensure the financial stability of the company.”
The scope of the furlough’s impact on newsroom employees remains uncertain. A majority of the newsrooms are either unionized or attempting to become unionized, the company said Tuesday. The Chicago Tribune newsroom, for example, is represented by the Chicago Tribune Guild.
Earlier this month, Tribune Publishing announced pay cuts of up to 10% for nonunion employees making $67,000 per year or more. Top company executives also took pay cuts, with Jimenez forgoing two weeks of salary in addition to a 10% reduction in his annual base pay of $575,000.
Media companies have been especially hard-hit by the economic disruption caused by the pandemic, and many have announced pay cuts and furloughs. Some have suspended print publication.
In addition to the Chicago Tribune, Tribune Publishing owns the Baltimore Sun; Hartford Courant; Orlando Sentinel; South Florida Sun Sentinel; New York Daily News; the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland; The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania; the Daily Press in Newport News, Virginia; and The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia.
Tribune Publishing had about 4,100 full-time employees at the end of 2019, according to the company.
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