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Benefits January 2, 2009
Denver Post Latest to Suspend 401(k) Match
January 2, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The latest
401(k) match to fall in recent months came at The Denver Post
newspaper where managers and other non-union employees were
informed their match would be suspended in 2009.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
A Denver Business Journal news report said the Post’s owner, Denver-based Media News Group, revealed its intention in a December 24 memo distributed to exempt employees including editors and other supervisors. The company said it was “hopeful” the match would be reinstated in 2010.
The Business Journal said the 401(k) match suspension came after managers were notified in November that their traditional pension plans would be frozen .
The latest notice, signed by Charles Kamen, MediaNews Group vice president for human resources, was not sent to union-represented Post workers, such as reporters and photographers, who also receive a company match.
“All of you are aware of the unprecedented challenges American businesses, and more specifically the newspaper industry, are facing today,” says a version of Kamen’s notice delivered at the Daily Breeze of Torrance, according to the Business Journal. “MediaNews Group is not immune from these difficulties nor is it exempt from having to make hard business decisions.”
The privately held company operates more than 50 daily newspapers in 11 states.
In Denver, both the Post and Rocky Mountain News have suffered losses that are believed to total several million dollars a quarter recently. News owner E.W. Scripps has put the News up for sale and will consider closing the paper if no buyer comes forward by mid-January, according to the Business Journal report.