Postmedia is shutting down its Moncton, N.B., printing facility, meaning most newspapers in the province will have to be outsourced for printing.
Pressman and union leader Dave Arsenault said he received the news Tuesday that the facility in the former Times & Transcript building on Main Street will be closing in August.
“All affected employees were notified that they would be shutting down operations in Moncton,” said Arsenault, president of the New Brunswick Media Guild (CWA Canada Local 30111)
Arsenault said he was told the closure wouldn’t impact the journalists and was informed the digital and print versions of the Postmedia-owned publications would continue.
However, it’s to his understanding that layoffs are coming.
“It will be seven unionized press employees and 35 non-union distribution employees,” he said.
“It’s a very sad day. We’ve put a lot of dedication and effort into providing quality product and news to the province of New Brunswick.”
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In a statement, Postmedia said it “operates in a challenging cost environment” that’s been made more difficult with the rising costs of printing material and the “changing media landscape.”
“Following an assessment of printing and insert packaging operations, it was determined that outsourcing these operations from Postmedia’s Moncton facility would allow us to continue serving print subscribers and advertisers while supporting long-term financial sustainability,” the statement read.
Postmedia said the decision was “not taken lightly” and is focused on being cost-effective and sustainable in the long-term.
“Postmedia is not discontinuing print publication of its newspapers in New Brunswick and will continue to publish and deliver print editions across the province,” the company added.
Most newspapers in the province are printed inside the downtown Moncton location, including the Daily Gleaner, Times & Transcript and Telegraph-Journal.
The three papers are published three days a week.
The province’s largest French-language newspaper, Acadie Nouvelle, is not owned by Postmedia but uses its printing facility.
In a statement, publisher Francis Sonier said an agreement links the paper to Postmedia until October 2027 and that, as far as he’s concerned, there will be no impact on readers, advertisers or journalistic content.
Acadie Nouvelle’s news director, Gaétan Chiasson, confirmed to Global News they found out about the impending closure via media reports and were only contacted by Postmedia on Thursday.
Toronto-based Postmedia purchased the daily and weekly newspapers owned by the Irving family in 2022 for $16 million in cash and shares.
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