Last month, the members of the Chicago Newspaper Guild voted down a proposal by James Tyree, a deal with the devil which would have gutted the union in exchange for his buying the bankrupt media group. Late yesterday afternoon it was announced that the guild had reached an agreement with Tyree, in spite of his claims that he would withdraw his bid and that the "concessions are an absolute prerequisite from all 18 collective bargaining units for a proposed sale." While the agreement, which the membership voted on yesterday afternoon and evening, means significant pay cuts, Jim Newton, chair of the Waukegan Unit of the Guild said that the agreement "demonstrate[s] our commitment to [the paper] and our craft.... We look forward to helping this new venture not only maintain but improve our presence in the local and regional media market." more ›

Unionized workers from the Sun-Times approved a motion that rejects concessions set by management to pave the way for the sale of the Sun-Times Media Group to businessman James Tyree by a vote of 83-22. According to the Trib, "Management has said the concessions are an absolute prerequisite from all 18 collective bargaining units for a proposed sale of parent Sun-Times Media Group." In spite of a memo sent earlier Tuesday by Chairman Jeremy Halbreich, reminding employees that a rejection of the concessions would mean a withdrawal of the bid, it seems Tyree isn't giving up on his bid. He told the Sun-Times: more ›