Marick Masters on how union stakes in ailing papers like the Chicago Sun-Times may keep them alive
The recent purchase of the Chicago Sun-Times for a nominal US$1 by a consortium of labor-affiliated organizations and individual investors highlights the troubled state of the newspaper industry.
It also raises the question of whether union ownership can bolster the odds that this Windy City daily whose founding dates back to 1929 can survive.
Research conducted by Mike Ilitch School of Business Professor Marick Masters and others suggests that, perhaps surprisingly, giving unions a financial stake in a company can offer advantages that would not only benefit Chicago Sun-Times employees but the newspaper and the wider community as well.
