Posted on: Friday, November 9, 2001
Star-Bulletin faces layoffs, pay cuts
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
The company that publishes the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and MidWeek announced yesterday it will lay off about 20 people and ask some employees to take voluntary pay cuts.
The cuts represent about 4 percent of the work force of about 500 employees at the Star-Bulletin and MidWeek. Most of the layoffs will take place Thursday, said Ken Berry, executive vice president of the Star-Bulletin and publisher of MidWeek.
Employees making at least $40,000 a year have been asked to take temporary pay cuts of 5 percent; employees making more than $50,000 are being asked to take 10 percent cuts, Berry said.
It was unclear yesterday how long the pay cuts would last.
The layoffs affect employees in news and business departments, Berry said. At the Star-Bulletin, employees said the cuts affect about five of roughly 90 newsroom staff members represented by the Hawai'i Newspaper Guild.
Wayne Cahill, administrative officer of the union, said he was not given details of the planned layoffs. He said he expects to meet with Star-Bulletin management in the next few days to discuss the proposed cuts.
Berry said there are no other plans to cut costs. "This is a course correction for us," he said. "We've only been publishing the Star-Bulletin for seven months and we think with these adjustments we'll be in good shape."
The moves come nearly eight months after Canadian publisher David Black bought the Star-Bulletin, which ended joint publishing, advertising and circulation operations with The Honolulu Advertiser. The cuts also come two months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Mainland, which have staggered the local economy and triggered layoffs at dozens of Hawai'i companies.
"Like thousands of companies in our state and across the country, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin has been affected by the struggling economy since Sept. 11," the newspaper said in a statement.
John Morton, a newspaper industry analyst in Maryland, said the recent economic downturn may touch off a broader cost-cutting movement across the industry as advertisers cut back on ads while newspapers face higher expenses from expanded news coverage.
"Clearly the extraordinary expenses facing newspapers since Sept. 11 has put greater pressure on profit margins, so I expect we'll be seeing more efforts (by other newspapers) to cut costs," he said.
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald in Hilo a few weeks ago informed the Newspaper Guild it wanted to reduce hours for five employees because of economic pressure, Cahill said. Tribune-Herald Publisher Jim Wilson could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Dennis Francis, general manager of The Advertiser, said there are no plans for layoffs or other cost-cutting measures at the newspaper.
