PORTLAND, Maine — Union officials representing some employees at MaineToday Media — publisher of the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal, the Morning Sentinel and Coastal Journal — have voiced their concern over the impending sale of the organization.
Journalist Tom Bell is president of the News Guild of Maine — which represents some of the marketing, production and newsroom staff at MTM.
He, and others, met Monday with MTM management and representatives of Camden-based media executive Reade Brower, who announced last month he would be buying the company.
Bell says five layoffs were announced last week, but he’s worried many more could follow after the new management takes charge on June 1.
“The sale was structured in a way so that the buyer does not recognize the contract, and the buyer is imposing conditions that would reduce the cost of outsourcing people’s jobs, and that’s what our No. 1 concern is,” Bell said. “Essentially, people’s job security will be much less under the new company than under the existing company.”
And that, said Bell, is because employee severance is being cut in half by the new owner.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public Broadcasting Network.