Sun-Times bidder sets Sept. 29 deadline

The Chicago financier who said he wants to buy the Sun-Times Media Group Inc. set a deadline of Sept. 29 for workers to agree to concessions and workplace rule modifications.
James Tyree offered $25 million — $5 million of that in cash — to buy the beleaguered publisher, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year.
But as part of his offer, he asked unions representing STMG workers to make permanent a 15-percent reduction in wages and make other changes to their union contract. In a series of votes last week, however, union members overwhelmingly rejected Tyree’s request.
Without concessions, Tyree said he could not purchase STMG, which publishes the Chicago Sun-Times and several dozen other Chicago-area newspapers. STMG executives have stated that if workers can’t strike an agreement with Tyree, the company could go out of business.