TNG-CWA Gains Backing of Equity Firm in Knight Ridder Bid

TNG-CWA is working with the nation's largest "worker-friendly" private equity firm, The Yucaipa Companies, as part of an overall effort to bid for nine newspapers of the Knight Ridder newspaper chain.

The newspapers are the Akron Beacon Journal, the Duluth News Tribune, the Grand Forks Herald, the Lexington Herald-Leader, The Monterey County Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, the Saint Paul Pioneer Press and the San Jose Mercury News. The papers have a combined employment of 7,000 and a combined daily circulation of 1.3 million. Workers at these newspapers have been meeting with TNG-CWA staff to discuss the buyout possibility and workers' options under such a plan.

TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said working with Yucaipa strengthens TNG-CWA's ability to form alliances with financial and strategic bidders for the Knight Ridder properties and broadens its appeal to other bidders in the process. To date, Knight Ridder has said it is only entertaining bids for all of its newspaper properties and related assets. 

One option for Guild members and all other union and non-union employees of the nine papers would be to invest side by side with Yucaipa, through 401(k) and other savings plans, thereby creating a partially employee owned company. The Newspaper Guild-CWA itself will not be an investor in such a future company.

Bill Boarman, chair of the CWA/ITU Negotiated Pension Plan and president of CWA's Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector, expressed support for the effort and noted that Yucaipa, with its record of responsible and worker-friendly investment, would be an excellent partner.

For more information on the buyout effort, go to www.valueplusmedia.com . ValuePlus Media Corporation is the preliminary name for the acquisition corporation that would purchase the union papers.