Dow Jones Freezes Wages For Nonunion Employees In 2009

Dow Jones & Co. will freeze wages for nonunion employees in 2009 and seek to do the same for union-represented staff next year in an effort to cut costs amid the global financial crisis and economic downturn.

Dow Jones, the publisher of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal, and acquired by global media giant News Corp. (NWS) in 2007, has been hit hard by advertising weakness along with the rest of the media industry. In particular, newspapers have been hammered by sharp revenue declines caused by challenges to their traditional business models posed by the Internet.

The New York Times Co. (NYT) recently instituted a wage freeze for its nonunion employees, and similar steps have been taken at other publishers, like McClatchy Co. (MNI) and A.H. Belo Corp. (AHC).

For its part, Dow Jones and other parts of News Corp. have made job cuts in recent months, but a spokeswoman for the company declined to provide specifics. Dow Jones employs about 6,500 full-time workers, and roughly 4,000 of those will be affected by the wage freeze.

Dow Jones Chief Executive Les Hinton said in a memo to employees that the wage freeze will help the company minimize possible job cuts in the future.

"I know you are all well aware that the uncertainty of the broader economy touches all our businesses," Hinton said. "We don't know how profound the problems will be, or how long they will last. The only prudent course is to continue managing all expenses aggressively until we can see more clearly where we are headed."

Steven Yount, a spokesman for the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, said Dow Jones' union-represented employees have a contract for a 3% wage hike effective Feb. 1. Also, there are provisions for a cost-of-living salary adjustment as well, based on certain variables.

He said the current labor contract is up for negotiation in early 2010, and he expects to begin negotiations with the company later this year.

-By Nat Worden, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5216; [e-mail]

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