MCLEAN, Va. — Newspaper publisher Gannett is forcing most of its workers to take another week of unpaid leave before July.
The furloughs spelled out Monday in a company memo are being imposed to avoid laying off more employees as Gannett tries to offset a steep drop in advertising revenue.
Gannett owns the Tucson Citizen and operates the newspaper’s advertising and printing operations under a joint operating agreement with Lee Enterprises, the publisher of the Arizona Daily Star.
This marks the second time this year that most of Gannett’s 41,500 workers have had to give up a week’s pay. Most employees, including CEO Craig Dubow, were furloughed for at least five days during the first three months this year.
Citizen employees were exempted from the first round of furloughs because of the joint operating agreement.
It is unclear whether Citizen employees will be affected now, given the paper’s uncertain future.
Employees of Tucson Newspapers, Inc., the agency of the JOA, will likely be furloughed.
This time around, the owner of the USA Today and more than 80 other daily newspapers is requiring its higher-paid workers to relinquish up to two weeks pay during the April-June period.