more on the chron

The SF Chronicle reports that management and the paper's largest union are closed to an agreement that might save the paper.

The cynic in me wonders if forcing union concessions was the plan all along. Or -- if the pact is approved -- what, if anything, will remain of the Chron as we know it today. Despite losing bags of money on a weekly basis, the paper maintained bureaus outside SF, kept a stable of talented writers who chronicled the life of the city itself with style and voice, wrote its own arts reviews and obituaries, and held onto not only a (monthly) Sunday magazine, but a book review section as well.

From the story:

The Media Workers Guild represents 483 Chronicle employees, including 218 in editorial and 265 in advertising, circulation, finance, ad production and other functions. The company said it expects to eliminate about 150 of those jobs.

"The terms reached late Monday include expanded management ability to lay off employees without regard to seniority," the Guild said in a statement. "All employees who are discharged in a layoff or who accept voluntary buyouts are guaranteed two weeks' pay per year of service up to a maximum of one year, plus company-paid health care for the severance term, even in the event of a shutdown."

Other concessions include reductions in vacation time, sick leave and maternity/paternity leave; expansion of the work week from 37.5 hours to 40; and the right for the company to subcontract any work.