St. Paul Pioneer Press lays off 11, including Twins reporter, in latest round of staff cuts

St. Paul Pioneer Press lays off 11 employees

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The St. Paul Pioneer Press laid off 11 employees Tuesday, including nine in the newsroom, union officials said.

In an e-mail to employees, Editor Thom Fladung said the newsroom layoffs were needed to deal with the challenges of a difficult economy and unprecedented change in the industry.

Those laid off included five copy editors, two page designers, Minnesota Twins beat reporter Phil Miller and photographer Brandi Thomas. The Newspaper Guild unit at the Pioneer Press said two advertising employees also were laid off.

“These people are more than just a list of names in an e-mail,” Fladung wrote. “They are a talented and productive collection of journalists whose work here included designing dynamic pages, producing memorable photos and videos, covering one of our highest-profile beats in the Twins, writing vibrant headlines and saving us from ourselves by asking good questions and catching and correcting numerous errors of fact and nuance.”

Management asked the Guild last month for benefit and wage cuts in response to the economic downturn that it said would save the company more than $2 million, but later cut its demand to $1.1 million, the union said. Guild leaders estimated Tuesday’s layoffs will save the company about $800,000.

The union said in a statement that the layoffs didn’t have to happen, and that its members had been prepared to vote on whether to open discussions with management about new concessions.

“Instead, late last week, Guild members — including Guild leaders — were blindsided by the company’s withdrawal of its request for concessions,” the statement said.

The affected employees began getting the word about the layoffs Tuesday morning, said Mike Bucsko, executive officer of the Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union.

Tuesday’s cuts were the fourth major round of layoffs there since December of 2006, Bucsko said. The cuts brought the union-covered staff down to 129 with 74 left in advertising. The Pioneer Press had a 205-person newsroom and 745 total employees in November 2006, when it sought its first round of buyouts in recent years.

Union employees voted in February to take unpaid one-week furloughs to help the newspaper cut costs.

Pioneer Press spokeswoman Patricia Effenberger said the company does not publicly discuss personal matters and had no further comment.

Newspapers around the country have made similar cost-cutting moves.

The Pioneer Press, which bills itself as Minnesota’s oldest newspaper, is owned by Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc., which operates 54 daily newspapers in 11 states.

On the Net:

Minnesota Newspaper Guild: www.mnguild.org