A thread update on the planned furloughs at the Star-Tribune. Lee announced the furloughs -- which amount to two weeks of unpaid PTO between now and June 27 -- last month. Because we are a unionized newsrooms, we had a say in how those furloughs are rolled out. 1/

Last week, we agreed to accept the furloughs from Lee. As part of that agreement, we received a promise of no layoffs over this period. We also received the ability to rollover paid PTO we can't take by the end of the fiscal. 2/

We also received flexibility to take our furloughs as we'd like to so we can receive unemployment benefits. Those benefits are vital to our reporters, copy editors and photographers making up for our lost wages so we can continue to pay rent and afford groceries. 3/

We understand the difficult times our industry is in and that revenues are through the floor. We remain committed to protecting the future of the Star-Tribune, which is why we agreed to discuss furloughs in the first place. 4/

Had we not been unionized, we wouldn't have received any of these assurances in writing. Even in the midst of an accelerated attack on our industry, we were still able to make use of our seat at the table. 5/

We certainly have had our complaints of Lee Enterprises, our corporate owners. But we'd like to thank them for bargaining with us fairly and quickly, and for immediately recognizing our role in this process. Other companies have been far less willing to work together. end/