WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union will bring a delegation of union leaders and newspaper workers to the Tribune Company Special Meeting of Shareholders on Tuesday, August 21, 2007 at the Company's corporate headquarters to demand employee representation on the Company's Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and Board of Directors. They will warn investors, employees and creditors about the dangers of the Company's proposed reorganization into an S-Corp ESOP.
"Without a voice for employee owners the Tribune's new corporate structure leaves employees, who will bear the lion's share of risk in the company, without a means to address the challenges of paying off the massive multi- billion dollars of debt the company has taken on to finance this short-sighted transaction," said James P. Hoffa, General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. "This ESOP structure makes the employees shareholders in name only. They should be guaranteed the right to elect the trustee of the ESOP and Directors to the Board of the operating company."
Other victims of the transaction may be the very communities served by Tribune's media outlets. The Teamsters Union filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging the agency to make sure local and diverse views are protected before granting consent for the sale of the Tribune Company and approving waivers of the Commission's broadcast cross- ownership rules. The waivers are required for the company to continue operating its broadcast and newspaper operations in key media markets around the country.
"The proposed Tribune ownership structure may well impede the FCC's mission of protecting diverse and local viewpoints," said James P. Hoffa. "Including a voice for employee owners is necessary to tie the interests of the company to the local communities it serves."
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States and Canada including approximately 2,000 at the Tribune Company.
