UPDATE: Gannett Sale Means 1 Paper to Dole Out Honolulu News

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Say "Aloha" to 300 jobs as media conglomerate  Gannett Co. has finalized the sale of The Honolulu Advertiser to Honolulu Star-Bulletin owner David Black. (See "TUOL" post 4/1/10.)

Black intends to merge the two dailies into a broadsheet with a circulation of 135,000 to 140,000, according to a story in today's Advertiser. The surviving publication will employ between 300 and 600, compared to the 900 staffers at the two papers combined.

Gannett originally purchased the Star-Bulletin in 1971 and added the Advertiser in 1993 for a cool $250 million. The Virginia-based media giant sold the Star-Bulletin to Liberty Newspaper, LP in 1993. HA Mgt., Inc. will publish the Advertiser for the next 30 to 60 days until the blending of the two papers is complete.

Gannett Sued Over Hawaii '5-0' Layoffs

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 America's largest newspaper publisher, Gannett Co., which owns 83 papers, is being sued in Oahu Circuit Court for allegedly violating labor laws in the sale of the Honolulu Advertiser to rival Honolulu Star-Bulletin, according to Courtroom News Service.

The Advertiser's employees' union, Intl. Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 142, claims the axing of 50 employees days after the Advertiser sale occurred violated Hawaii's Dislocated Workers Act ("DWA") [HRS ch. 394B, sec. 1 et seq.], which mandates 60 days' notice before terminating workers from a divestiture, sale, or other transaction of business.  Gannett Pacific Corp. announced the Advertiser sale to Star-Bulletin owner, Oahu Publishing Co., in late February, two weeks before terminating 50 employees effective at the end of April. The newspaper transaction, which must undergo U.S. Justice Dept. scrutiny for any potential antitrust violations, is due to be finalized sometime this summer.

The DWA allows for pink-slipped employees to receive back pay and benefits for the length of any alleged violation and subjects the offender to civil penalties up to $500 daily. The Advertiser's union wants punitive damages and penalties assessed against the media conglomerate.

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