6-member union stalls deal for Sun-Times Media Group

Holy crap.

Their trump card is one of those relic union contracts that give members rights that seem mind-boggling in this day and age. In 1975, when the union had 460 members at the Sun-Times and was far stronger, the CTU managed to negotiate lifetime job guarantees that subsequently kept some members on the payroll well into their 80s, Berman said.

At the time, Sun-Times management saw more value in being able to move union members around between jobs than in being able to lay them off. The union happily agreed, given that the days of printing the newspaper using lead "hot type" were gone and members saw desktop publishing gradually replacing their typesetting work altogether.

So these 6 guys are guaranteed jobs for life if they don't concede to the new owners and everyone else loses their jobs?

There's a solid comment over there on the Tribune:

The Chicago Typographical Union No. 16,sister union, the American Buggywhip Workers Local, fully supports their brothers in their fight.

I hope they lose their jobs. They're typesetters...and it's 2009 fer Christ's sake. Why should they be paying people whose skills they no longer need?

Being locked into contract for a job description that doesn't really exist anymore, is a little silly, though.