Le Monde Staff Back Revised Cuts Plan

Staff at Le Monde have approved a fresh plan from the paper's management, bringing to an end more than a month of turmoil at France's most prestigious newspaper. Employees voted 81 to one in favor of the measures, with seven abstentions.

The new plan is designed to reduce compulsory redundancies and extends the deadlines for staff to take up voluntary redundancy until June 30. It replaces a management plan to ax 129 jobs, involving 87 newsroom staff - one in four journalists.

Once voluntary redundancies are taken up, trade unions and management will together "evaluate the savings made by these departures," according to a joint statement.

Other savings will be sought through reassigning staff.

Forced redundancies, if they happen, would take place in September rather than in mid-July, with a guarantee that no one will be sacked during the summer holidays.

"This is a good agreement as it safeguards the interests of employees and helps the company to improve its economic situation," said the Le Monde managing director, Eric Fottorino.

"It's a compromise, but it is acceptable enough that we can sit down together and work on the leaving conditions [of staff]," said staff representative Christiane Chombeau.

The agreement brings to an end weeks of protests at the paper that included three one-day strikes and two work stoppages. The industrial action prevented the evening daily from coming out on three separate occasions.

Employees were also protesting at the planned sale of assets including a religious bookshop chain, cult cinema magazine Les Cahiers du Cinéma, a publishing house and a monthly magazine on dancing.

Le Monde has been in crisis for several years. The paper had a daily circulation of about 358,000 copies in 2007, down from 398,000 in 2003. It lost €20m (£16m) in 2007, has not made a profit in seven years, and has accumulated losses of €150m (£120m).

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