Associated Press (AP) has tentative labor deal after 6 mos of talks

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jj7NyQRHhyH9BAA4KT-fzX2fBKXA?docId=aa26741ce797443689a90eafa2b1b240

NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press has reached a tentative agreement on a labor contract that the news cooperative says would provide financial stability during a time of media upheaval.

The deal announced Friday follows six months of negotiations and would cover about 1,200 newsroom and technology employees represented by the News Media Guild.

The main dispute involved management's insistence on freezing a longstanding pension plan, in which monthly payments in retirement are defined. Future retirement contributions would instead go into an employee-controlled account similar to a 401(k). The union ultimately agreed to the pension freeze, and the company said it would increase contributions to the alternative plan for affected employees for eight years.

In return for the freeze, the AP also agreed not to seek an increase in employees' health insurance payments. Employees would get three raises of 1.5 percent each and improved job security. The contract would cover 33 months and expire at the end of August 2013.

The tentative agreement comes after several years of financial hardship for many of the newspapers and broadcasters that receive AP's services. Newspapers have been the hardest hit as billions of dollars in advertising revenue has shifted to less expensive alternatives on the Internet. The turmoil has triggered layoffs and pay cuts at many newspapers.

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