Philly Inquirer to sell printing facility, layoffs expected

The Philadelphia Inquirer is planning on selling its Schuylkill Printing Plant, which was built in 1992. The move will force the paper to make about 500 of the 550 plant workers redundant. They represent about half of the Inquirer’s workforce of 1,073.

The company is expected to farm out print production to a Cherry Hill, New Jersey printing plant owned by Gannett Co., Inc., with the closure of its own facility saving the company an estimated $19.3 million annually in operating expenses.

John Dagle, president of Teamsters Local 628, which represents about 300 of the workers in danger of losing their jobs, said the announcement was unexpected.

The news was announced by the Inquirer’s publisher and CEO Lisa Hughes, in a memo.

“While the sale is not yet final, we recognize how deeply unsettling and distressing this is to employees at the printing plant,” Hughes wrote. “They have served our readers tirelessly, with dedication and devotion to the craft. Many of them have spent decades with the company – and all performed their jobs valiantly when the pandemic arrived.”