A month after the Tribune Co. asked for permission under Chapter 11 to raise the bonuses of over 700 managers and higher-ups from $21.5 million to $67 million, the union has won the right to see the new bonus plan. Federal bankruptcy judge Kevin Carey ruled that Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, representing 225 workers at the Baltimore Sun, should be allowed to have limited access to the bonus plan. The Guild attorneys will be allowed to see the basic plan, but not the consultant's report, or several other documents. Now that the union will be able to see the plans, a bigger fight may be looming on the horizon. Court hearings concerning approval of the bonus plan are set for next month, and the union remains adamantly opposed.
See "Union can see Tribune Co. bonus plan, judge says", Chicago Tribune, August 11, 2009