Up to 600 staff working for the Independent News and Media group have been asked to accept a pay freeze or salary reductions of between 2.5 and 10 per cent.
Management told staff today that it was seeking their co-operation to deliver cost savings appropriate to the current economic and advertising environment.
Under the proposals staff earning up to €40,000 per year would see their pay frozen.
For those receiving between €40,000 and €50,000 a 2.5 per cent pay cut would apply while a salary reduction of five per cent would be put in place for those earning between €50,000 and €100,000.
A ten per cent pay cut would apply for those receiving more than €100,000.
The company has proposed a new share scheme for staff who would be subject to the pay cuts.
It is understood that they would be offered shares in Independent News and Media PLC (INM) to the value of two and a half times the reduction in salary.
The pay proposals would apply to staff at the Irish Independent, Sunday Independentand Evening Heraldas well as regional newspapers owned by the group and in the distribution company Newspread.
INM directors including chief executive Sir Anthony O'Reilly and chief operating officer Gavin O'Reilly, are to take a 10 per cent salary cut and will not receive any bonuses for 2008.
Last year directors at the company received bonuses ranging from €475,000 to €750,000.
Sources close to the company said that staff had been advised that the pay propoals were a means of substantially reducing the prospect of redundancies.
It is understood that staff within three years of retirement would not be affected by salary reductions.
Staff at the company will be required to reply individually to the company’s proposals by January 9th.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said tonight that it would be seeking an urgent meeting with the company to obtain full details of the plan..
It said that the share option plan in return for a pay freeze or salary cuts was unlikely to be welcomed given the current value of the stock.
NUJ Irish Secretary Seamus Dooley said that the company had also indicated that it was pulling out of the national pay deal.
The NUJ said that it recognised that there had been a downturn in the economy and in particular in advertising.
It also said that it noted that there were no plans for redundancies. It also described the January 9 deadline put in place by the company as “unrealistic”.