Indy | GCI settles union layoff lawsuit, memo says

Gannett agreed to pay a financial settlement to eight former Indianapolis Star employees represented by the Newspaper Guild in return for their dropping a lawsuit against the company, challenging their layoffs in July 2009, according to a memo cited by blogger Ruth Holladay. The dollar amount of the payments is being kept confidential, the memo dated Thursday says.

"The eight will not be rehired,'' the memo says, "but will receive a confidential financial settlement that the current slate of officers finds favorable. For those still employed here, the important victory was that the company will honor the terms of our collective bargaining agreement even after the contract expires Sept. 1, 2011. That's the contract that provides guaranteed severance, no outsourcing and so forth. That's a big deal with the threat of the Gannett hubs/layoffs looming in the future."

Holladay notes the unfortunate but not unusual terms of the settlement: that Corporate likely demanded the union keep the payment amounts a secret as part of the deal.

The Star workers were among at least 1,400 U.S. newspaper employees given their walking papers last summer. In total last year, GCI cut 4,500 jobs in the U.S. newspaper division, and 6,500 companywide.