Toronto Star cuts 27 jobs

The Toronto Star says it's cutting six full-time and 21 part-time positions at its classified department as sales for the section decline.

The country's largest newspaper and a division of Torstar Corp. said it had notified both the union and staff on Monday that the positions would be contracted out.

"Due to the dramatic drop of classified services and the rise of online classified services we feel it no longer makes economic sense for us to run an in-house classified call centre," said Torstar spokesman Bob Hepburn in a phone interview.

The cuts will affect six full-time and 21 part-time staff, he said.

Brad Honywill, president of Local 87-M of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, criticized the decision, which he says will shuffle the work across the border to Buffalo, N.Y.

"It's shameful that one of the largest newspapers in the country ... is now shuffling work off to Buffalo in order to save a couple of bucks," he said.

However, Hepburn said that the Star hasn't made a commitment to any company on either side of the border, though he wouldn't confirm whether Buffalo was being considered as an option.

"Currently we're in talks with some outside vendors," he said.

Classified sections of newspapers have seen their orders dwindle as more readers migrate to free-listing websites like Craigslist to attract attention for items they're selling.

The Star has agreed to delay issuing formal layoff notices for two weeks as the union weighs its options. Once the notices are issued, the employees have 90 days of work time left under the current contract.

Earlier this year, Torstar laid off about 60 unionized staff and managers across the organization, primarily in advertising sales at the Toronto Star, in a move it says will save on labour costs.

In May, Torstar said in its first-quarter report that it would take a $25.9 million restructuring charge in the quarter for staff cuts and streamlining efforts to boost the bottom line.

Source: Canadian Press