Postmedia Network outsources printing of Vancouver Sun and The Province

By Tamara Baluja

Postmedia Network has entered into two separate printing outsourcing agreements: one with TC Transcontinental Printing for the production of the Vancouver Sun and the other with Black Press for the production of The Province.

By Tamara Baluja

Postmedia Network has entered into two separate printing outsourcing agreements: one with TC Transcontinental Printing for the production of the Vancouver Sun and the other with Black Press for the production of The Province.

Postmedia is selling its Kennedy Heights printing plant in 2015, which will result in the loss of 200 jobs. These changes at Postmedia are part of a three-year program to reduce operational costs by 15 to 20 per cent. “Operating cost reductions realized through the shutdown of Kennedy Heights referenced above, represent a portion of these previously announced savings,” the company said in a statement.

Talks between the union and Postmedia collapsed earlier this month after they failed to reach an agreement. A Unifor release called the company's demands "too extreme" for the union to accept. "Among other conditions, the company insists on the right to choose from among our current members as to who would be able to work at a new plant," it stated. "It was estimated that only about one-quarter of our current Kennedy Heights members would be asked to work at the new facility."

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Transcontinental has signed a five-year deal to print the Vancouver Sun.

"This agreement builds on our recent announcement to print the Calgary Herald, which we started printing on November 18," said Brian Reid, president of TC Transcontinental Printing in a statement. "Given the current pace of change in the newspaper industry, this additional agreement demonstrates the relevance of our printing platform and the renewed interest in our ability to help publishers across Canada become more efficient."

Outsourcing the production of the Herald in November resulted in 60 job losses. But just one week after it stopped in-house production,  the Herald and the Calgary edition of the National Post were not delivered to the “vast majority” of its subscribers because of production issues at the new presses.

Postmedia has made several sweeping changes in the past year, including selling off real estate and launching paywalls across all its newspapers. It recently sold its Windsor Star and suburban National Post properties in favour of becoming anchor tenants in downtown locations in Windsor and Toronto respectively. Postmedia also decided to sublease two floors of its prime downtown Vancouver location and puts its Calgary newsroom up for sale.

Meanwhile, CEO Paul Godfrey saw his total compensation increase by 50 per cent in fiscal 2013, The Globe and Mail reported. Godfrey received $1.7 million in total compensation in the past year, compared to $1.1 million the year earlier, the Globe reported, based on documents filed with securities regulators.

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