Teamsters Demand Employee Representation on Tribune ESOP & Board
August 21 2007 - 9:27AM
PR Newswire (US)
Union Delegation to Tribune Special Meeting to Warn of Dangers in
the Company's Reorganization WASHINGTON, Aug. 21
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union will bring a
delegation of union leaders and newspaper workers to the Tribune
Company (NYSE:TRB) Special Meeting of Shareholders on Tuesday,
August 21, 2007 at the Company's corporate headquarters to demand
employee representation on the Company's Employee Stock Ownership
Plan (ESOP) and Board of Directors. They will warn investors,
employees and creditors about the dangers of the Company's proposed
reorganization into an S-Corp ESOP. "Without a voice for employee
owners the Tribune's new corporate structure leaves employees, who
will bear the lion's share of risk in the company, without a means
to address the challenges of paying off the massive multi- billion
dollars of debt the company has taken on to finance this
short-sighted transaction," said James P. Hoffa, General President
of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. "This ESOP structure
makes the employees shareholders in name only. They should be
guaranteed the right to elect the trustee of the ESOP and Directors
to the Board of the operating company." Other victims of the
transaction may be the very communities served by Tribune's media
outlets. The Teamsters Union filed comments with the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) urging the agency to make sure
local and diverse views are protected before granting consent for
the sale of the Tribune Company and approving waivers of the
Commission's broadcast cross- ownership rules. The waivers are
required for the company to continue operating its broadcast and
newspaper operations in key media markets around the country. "The
proposed Tribune ownership structure may well impede the FCC's
mission of protecting diverse and local viewpoints," said James P.
Hoffa. "Including a voice for employee owners is necessary to tie
the interests of the company to the local communities it serves."
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million
hardworking men and women in the United States and Canada including
approximately 2,000 at the Tribune Company. DATASOURCE:
International Brotherhood of Teamsters CONTACT: Galen Munroe of the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, +1-202-624-6904 Web site:
http://www.teamster.org/
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