Unions and management, fighting over the moribund beast:
WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware says a union representing newspaper workers can see details about the Tribune Co.’s proposal to give bonuses totaling up to $70 million to the company’s top managers.
Judge Kevin Carey ruled Tuesday that details about the bonus plan should be provided on a limited basis to attorneys for the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, which opposes the bonuses.
Chicago Tribune on AIG bonuses:
So how do you want your company run? Do you want the most talented people available? When you restrict pay, when you rescind incentives, you make other firms look more attractive and risk losing your best people. In a recent letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Liddy said he had “grave concerns” about the firm’s ability to keep talented staff “if employees believe that their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury.”
On Monday, New York Atty Gen. Andrew Cuomo demanded a list of employees set to receive millions of dollars in bonuses. Let’s see the contracts that guided the bonuses. If they’re going to people who are key to AIG’s future, they can be justified. If they’re going to people who recklessly drove it into the ground, they can’t be justified.
Okay. On the other hand, the Tribune’s Steve Chapman has been admirably frank about bailouts and competition:
I’m glad to see that no one in this industry has had the gall to ask Washington for a bailout. True, journalism provides a valuable service to the public. But if the public isn’t willing to pay for that service, we have no grounds to demand a rescue. It’s our job as journalists to provide something people want in a form that they want and are willing to pay for. If we can’t, we deserve our fate. But I hold out hope that we can.