$200 Million Mystery at WaPo

Washington Post management has signaled that it is closer than ever to a take-or-leave-it position in ongoing contract negotiations with the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild. “Among other things, the company continues to insist on cutting severance pay in half,” the Guild reports. “And the Post is still trying to cut health-care benefits for part-timers.” Most mysteriously, Post owner Jeff Bezos – the Amazon founder and multibillionaire – “is insisting on slashing retirement benefits although he has absolutely no need to do so,” says the Guild...

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The pension fund is currently running a $200 million surplus. The Post has rejected three compromise pension proposals from the Guild. Nearly 500 Post workers recently signed a petition demanding that publisher Fred Ryan offer workers a fair contract (click here to see a brief video). Guild members are meeting on Friday to plan next steps.